To Prey Upon the Dead
by Gorgantuan
Summary: On the day Masaki was killed by the Grand Fisher an unknown being saved a traumatised Ichigo from certain death and took him aboard it's ship to live his life as a Predator and a hunter. When he returns, how will he adapt to a life that he left many years ago? Rated M for Gore, Language and Sexual themes. Pairing Undecided. Dark/Strong Ichigo.
1. Trauma

The weather was horrible this day.

All you could see around you was the rain hastily crashing down from the heavens, only to meet solid ground as well as the darkening sky as the hidden sun faded away past the non-viewable horizon. All you could hear was the steady beating of the droplets splattering against the cold earth and steel and tile rooftops of nearby homes and apartments.

Not many people would want to go out on such a day like this. Yet two people could be seen hastily walking next to a river that had begun to swell and run furiously through the centre of Karakura town.

These people. A Young boy no older than the age of 9 going by the name of Kurosaki Ichigo and beautiful, brown-haired woman most likely in her late 30's named Kurosaki Masaki, the two were family, the boy being her eldest child and her only son in a loving family of five.

As the mother and son hurriedly traipsed over the waterlogged ground they sent small splashes from the puddles at their feet into the air to reform back into the very puddle that had been displaced.

"Come on Ichigo, we've got to get home before you catch a cold out here." his mother told him after the small child had paused to look out over the river.

He turned to her and nodded.

"Okay Mom! let's go!"

Under the shelter of an umbrella they set off at a steady pace, ignoring the cars that drove by on the nearby road and the roar of their engines as they ventured their own way home from the dreary day of work.

After a few minutes they we just about to pass under a bridge that extended over the swollen river and gave passage for vehicles of all kinds to get to the other half of town that lay waiting on the other side of the river.

Looking up at the bridge above them Ichigo stopped in his tracks and just stared upwards from under the umbrella.

Masaki stopped as well. Since she had been holding onto her sons small hand she had felt him stop and had her arm stretch back behind her because she had still been moving forward when Ichigo had paused to look up.

"What's the matter Ichi-kun? Did something happen?" She asked as she looked at his befuddled expression.

Ichigo just continued to stare at a certain spot on the bridge. He wasn't sure if he was seeing things or not. The spot that he was looking at seemed to be blurred and slightly shimmering as if there something invisible was hanging onto the side the overpass. Had it not been raining he would've completely missed it. But since it was indeed raining at the time it stood out. So Ichigo had noticed that the rain droplets seemed to fall and stop, colliding with whatever the invisible thing was, displaying a cold outline of small runs of water.

Masaki looked at her son and then followed his gaze to see where or what he was staring at so intently. Her eyes looked up and she was nothing. What was there that would make Ichigo stop like that?

"Ichi-kun?" she asked with a small amount of concern as well as curiosity in her voice.

Ichigo soon remembered he had been standing there observing the thing for a minute or two while his mom had been trying to get his attention.

"Oh! Sorry Momma, I'm okay. Lets hurry back home, I bet Yuzu and Karin are waiting for us!" he eagerly spoke out to his mother. Taking one quick glance at the thing he had been staring at before starting to walk off again with Masaki trailing behind him.

Masaki gave a quick chuckle at Ichigo's antics and brought her pace to match with his. She however looked back up at where he was looking as they started walking off. It was then that she saw what he had been staring at, the outline and figure of the _thing_ was just there hanging off the side of the bridge, made more visible but the layer of water running down it's form. She couldn't make out any fine details at all, just that it was tall and had an immense build. Two yellow lights flickered into view for a brief moment, right were the eyes would be if it were a human. Masaki had to suppress a small yelp of surprise when she felt Ichigo tug on her hand to get her to follow after him. How did she get so distracted in such a short amount of time? Looking back up the thing was gone. Maybe it had be her eyes playing tricks on her? No. If that was true then Ichigo wouldn't have been looking at it as well... Thoughts for another day she guessed.

She turned back around and saw her son waiting for her under the overpass seeking shelter from the rain, she gave him a quick smile which he returned in full and then some, as she walked up to him and claimed his hand for them to start walking again.

After several more minutes of walking next to the rushing river and talking about their day as they made their way home, Ichigo had come to a stop again. This time he shifted his gave to the edge of the swollen river, where this time he could see what he was looking at.

A small girl around the same age as himself was standing on the edge of the roaring stream. Her black hair stuck to her head and shoulders, as the rain drenched her clothing that clung onto her small frame.

Seeing this Ichigo quickly let go of his mother's hand and started to run to the little girl to stop her from falling in, all while calling out to her to get away from the edge of the river.

"Ichigo! Don't!" Masaki's cries fell on deaf ears.

She was panicking as she watched her only son run to the girl, though she knew better. She could see the tentacle-like extension that was attached to the top of the girl's head and where the other end of it was attached to. Rushing after him as he neared the girl-shaped lure, Masaki threw herself onto her son in a desperate attempt to protect him.

As Ichigo got close to the black haired child, he was about to reach and pull the girl back when he was something emerge out of the river in a rush. It was covered in a spiky brown fur and rushed at them like a animal pouncing on its prey, the next thing Ichigo felt was something wrapping themselves around his tiny body and knocking him to the ground as the mass of brown continued it's attack and then, darkness.

* * *

_Several Minutes later_

Three people currently sat in an office in the Kurosaki household that doubled as the local medical clinic. The three persons, two of which were seated in front and the third behind a desk, couldn't look any different from each other. The one seated behind the desk was Kurosaki Isshin, a man in his early 40's, spiky black hair and thin black facial hair along his jaw line and chin and a large smile plastered across his face.

"I'm so glad we had time to finally catch up today, you two! It's been so long!" Isshin spoke in a cheery manner, trying hard to not dive out of chair and tackle his two long time friends.

"That it has Isshin-san, it's a shame Masaki-san isn't here at the moment, it would have been nice to see her again since the last time was when your son Ichigo was born." The blonde haired spoke, Urahara Kisuke was his name. He sported a black Haori and a dark green undershirt giving him a very vague 'homeless' feel about him, atop his pale blonde hair was a green and white striped bucket hat and on his feet were a pair of traditional Geta.

"Oh yeah, she would've loved to have seen you two again, but she's out picking Ichigo up from karate practise, they should be home in a few minutes actually." Isshin told Kisuke.

"Speaking of Ichigo, how is the little heart-throb doing?" This time it was a woman who spoke up, her name, Shihōin Yoruichi.

She was a gorgeous dark skinned woman, with long purple hair that was tied up in a ponytail and hung down, reaching to just above her hips. Her clothes were a tight black body suit that seemed to give any kind of restrictive movements. Over that she wore a bright, almost fluorescent orange coloured vest and on her feet she wore a pair of light brown shoes that came up to just below her knees.

"I didn't figure you for a cradle-robber Yoruichi-san!" Kisuke teased, only to receive a smack to the back of the head.

"Stop acting like such a pervert Kisuke!" She scalded as she sat back in her chair having stood up to punish Kisuke. "Although, maybe when he's grown up I'll have a go at him" Yoruichi said with a cheeky smile.

"And knowing you, you'd be able to get him out of his momma's boy phase." Isshin began with no small amount of amusement in his voice. "I swear that boy seems to be stuck to Masaki's hand."

They all begun a round of laughter knowing how Yoruichi teased someone once she had selected them as her victim.

It was abruptly brought to a hold as Kisuke and Yoruichi went wide-eyed and looked at each other, then giving a quick nod, Yoruichi Shunpoed through the house and out the front door as fast as she could. Isshin was confused and a bit afraid of what was happening but decided to voice this.

"What's going on Kisuke?" The worry in his voice was very evident.

"We felt your wife's Reishi flare a few minutes ago, but it was only for a brief second so we thought nothing of it because you had said it happened sometimes when your kids would fall over or hurt themselves in her company." Kisuke explained as the two began to run out of the house after the purple haired lady.

"So what changed?" Isshin said catching up to the hat wearing man after locking the house behind him.

"Her Reishi changed.. Or rather, it vanished." Kisuke told him, his tone grim and dark.

Isshin's heart stopped in his chest and his blood ran cold from what he had just been told. Redoubling his efforts to get there as soon as he could the sprinted off as fast as they could.

* * *

_Several minutes ago_

The only thing Ichigo could hear was the heavy pelting of rain against the ground next to him and against his head, as well as the rushing river that he lay near.

What had happened? He remembered running to stop the black-haired girl from falling into the river that he and his mother had been walking adjacent to and then seeing the furry brown mass jump at him from the very river the girl was about to fall in and then something ran into him from behind and he fell over, blacking out instantly the moment his body hit the ground.

That's when he had noticed that the thing that had barged into him from the rear was now lying on top of the small him, it was soft, but heavy and had its arms wrapped limply around his small frame.

Ichigo tried turning to see what was weighing him down keeping him pinned to the cold earth underneath him, but to no avail. So giving up on that, he slowly pried himself from the objects grasp using the drenched grass and any protruding rock as a hand-hold to help get him out from under the mystery weight.

Finally getting himself free he let out a tired sigh and could help hold back a shiver. He was cold and the rain was not helping with that whatsoever, how long had he been out for?

Not wanting to think on the topic anymore he turned around to see what had hit him and what he'd been wedged underneath that whole time. What he saw made him cry out.

"Mom!" His little voice screamed.

Lying there, motionless was his own mother, her eyes which were normally joy filled and so full of life, were now drained, emotionless shells of what they used to be. Surrounding her was a slowly spreading and washing away puddle of deep crimson liquid that stained the grass and dirt around her.

The centre of his world, the person he loved above all and the woman who brought him to life, his mother, was dead.

His voice rose to a pained cry as he slowly crawled through the mud and blood to get to his mothers cadaver. Every rain drop beating down on his back trying to get him to give up his movement and just lay down in his own parent's lifeblood. He had managed to drag his weakening body over to his mother, he placed his tiny hands on her shoulder and started to slowly rock her back and forth thinking she would wake.

"Momma... Mom, please wake up... Please... Wake up, Mommy..." His voice was weak. He could barely hold himself together from completely breaking down right there, though he couldn't hold back the tears forming in his eyes and running down his cheeks, mixing with the rain and dirt already present on his childish face.

A deep mirthful chuckling became audible next to the small crying child. Followed by an equally deep voice that sounds like someone was talking with gravel in their throat.

**"Heh heh heh, mommy's not gonna wake up kid,"** When Ichigo heard that his head spun around to see who had spoken to him and his vision was greeted by a grotesque looking giant hamster, covered in thick brown that had a face of white bone almost like a he was wearing a skull as a mask but far larger and more deformed than it should be.

"W-wha..." Was all he could stutter our from the shock and fright of seeing such a creature.

**"Because I tore the soul right out of her body, AHAHAHA!"** The monster laughed out at the child's distress and to further prove his point he lifted up his clawed bird like foot and held someone that looked exactly the same as his mother. The difference being she had a long broken chain attached to the centre of her chest.

"MOM!" Ichigo screamed when he saw her, he was confused. Why was there two mom's? Was that her soul, like the monster said? A low murmur broke his thoughts.

"... Ichi-kun... Run..." His mother wheezed out, clearly in pain from being held around the neck.

He could only hear it slightly but it was enough. Finding strength he didn't think he had in such a tired state, he stood up with his fists in a fight position.

"Give back my mom, you monster!" He shouted at said monster.

It looked at him and then at his mother and broke into a face-splitting grin. It raised the brown haired woman higher tightening its grip around her neck, producing a painful whimper.

"PUT HER DOWN YOU FRE-" Ichigo started a yell but was cut off.

"Ichigo..." Masaki's voice barely a whisper got his attention.

"Y-yes mommy?"

There was a long pause and she struggled to find her breath again, but when she found it she said three words that he always loved to hear her speak.

"I love you..." She said finally with a proud smile playing on her lips. With that the monster moved her closer to its face as it's gaping maw opened up.

What Ichigo's young, innocent eyes saw next would forever scar and traumatise the small child. The monster clamped it's mouth down on Masaki's body, creating sickening crunches and tearing sounds as he devoured the woman's soul right in front of that very woman's son. Her whole being was in its mouth, only leaving the head neck and part of the shoulders left exposed. With a quick twist of the hand and a jerk of the head the upper portion of Masaki tore free and was then tossed at Ichigo who had fallen to his knees crying.

Ichigo having just witnessed the beast consume his mother couldn't hold back any more, the dam finally burst, the poor child was sobbing into his palms as the rain tormented him with it's cold embrace, and the mud and blood of his parent stained his entire body. He heard dull a 'thud' and then something knocking into his knees. Removing his hands from his face he looked down.

Staring back at him was the lifeless face of his mother's soul.

Something in the boy snapped and his arms fell limply to his side. His sad expression ceased to exist and was replaced by an expressionless mask as he continued to stare deep into the dead eyes of his once alive mother, who was now slowly breaking down into glowing blue particles.

The deep, gravelly voice of his mom's murderer started up again, but he paid it no heed, he knew it was just taunting him, he just knew.

**"... And now I will consume your- AHCK!"** Ichigo had only heard the very last of what he had been saying when it was cut off by a sound that was similar to metal going through flesh, followed by a heavy 'THUMP' and the splattering of rancid, decaying blood over his small frame and the floor below him, all accompanied by a flash of light and the sound of some kind of gun being fired.

He slowly lifted his head up to see what had caused the sudden increase in activity. He was very surprised, but didn't show it.

Lying down in a putrid pile of hair and flesh, as a puddle of disgusting black blood grew and began washing away in the heavy precipitation was the abomination of nature. The main difference being the metallic looking spear that had been impaled through its skull and the gaping hole that had been blasted dead centre between its eyes.

Looking on top of the thing of nightmares, his surprise had turned to astonishment. Standing there was the invisible figure he had spotted hanging from the top of the overpass, rain acting like it had been early, splashing against it's form and slowly running down the curves and lines that made up it's body shape which was distinctly humanoid.

It started moving towards Ichigo, who had yet to shift from his spot or even move at all, aside from lifting his head up to try and get a better look at the being that had saved him from a gruesome and more than likely, violent death.

Something was happening to it as it walked off the mound it was standing on. Its body was becoming visible!

Ichigo just watched as a pale green skin was exposed that seemed to be covered by dark green almost black scales and an equally dark, very heavy looking metal body armor. Eventually it's whole body was revealed and Ichigo looked up with emotionless eyes. The being was easily over twice his own height, maybe around 8 and a half feet.

They both sat there looking at each other, the boy staring into the faceless void that was the metal mask that replaced the taller person's face and said person was staring at the blood covered child, his expression indistinguishable behind the mask of steel.

He had seen the youngling stare at him as he hung off the metallic construct that the humans used for their vehicles to pass over. He had seen the child-bearer spot him as they walked off, the curiosity got the better of him and decided to trail after them a few minutes after they had left. When he arrived at the scene he watched as the infant boy stood his ground against the beast who taunted him with his own elder's soul, but did not move to intervene. Having hunted around this concrete jungle for many months he soon found that the individuals that inhabited it had an 'inner being' that was ejected when their bodies were destroyed or fatally wounded, though these second bodies did not provide trophies when they were killed again, they simply dispersed into a type of particle unfamiliar to him, so he watched knowing that he could do nothing for the child-bearer. He watched as the monstrosity consumed the boy's mother and threw the remains at him, that was the thing that pushed him into action. It was disrespectful to treat the dead as such and even more so that it was the child's life-giver. Did this thing know no honour? His disgust rose when it appeared that the youngling was just staring at the decapitated head of his mother, while the beast seemed to be taunting him.

Drawing the Combi-stick -a large, extendible spear capable of being thrown long distances or used as a staff weapon- that was attached to his hip, he jumped from the building he had been crouched upon. Extending the weapon mid leap he bearing down on the creature. Pointing his spear downwards so it was below his feet, he aimed for the back of its cranium just a few dozen feet away... He hit dead on, bringing his full weight behind the point of the spear and into the beast's head.

When he had landed his feet on the back of its now impaled crown the creatures legs gave out and slammed hard against the wet soil beneath it. He knew it would die and dissipate like the other beast similar to it that roamed this stretch of land. But that didn't mean it couldn't move any more.

His Plasma-caster -a shoulder mounted gun-like weapon that shoots out highly explosive orbs of plasma at long ranges- was aimed at the back of the hollows head and fired, blasting a hole through the back of its head and out the front of its mask spraying it's disgusting flesh and blood over the ground and on the young boy. Normally such method of execution was dishonourable to the prey being hunted, but it did not deserve such pleasantries for its actions against the two humans.

Deactivating his Plasma-caster and closing the distance between them, he watched as the boy stared up at him as he advanced towards him until they were within touching distance, allowing his Active Camouflage to turn off to let the child see his form.

To him, no child should have to go through such thing. He wasn't even near hitting puberty yet and here he was sitting, covered in the blood of his elder and some disgusting excuse for an animal and had witnessed the very creature kill his parent right in front of him. The youngling now reeked of death and despair.

Ichigo watched as the mysterious armoured man crouched down before him. It raised a scaly, green, clawed hand to his face and cupped his chin between its thumb and index finger. As it slowly turned his head in each direction it was letting out a series of what sounded like clicks, growls and hums. Ichigo just stared at the featureless, grey coloured mask, as it appeared to be inspecting him in some way.

With one final grunt he let go of Ichigo's face and grabbed onto the front of his crimson stained shirt. He hoisted the small boy up and stood up at the same time, like he weighed nothing at all. This action eliciting a small 'Eep' from the child and with a quick movement he was slung over the larger man's broad shoulder.

Ichigo didn't care any more, his eyes were devoid of the life that they once had, especially when around his mom. But that part of his life was gone and now he was being abducted it seemed by something that was close to, but not really human, he gave up trying to get his undeveloped mind around all that had happened in the past 15 minutes.

Hearing a series of electronic beeps, followed by a mechanical whirl, the sound of steel against steel and then the rumbling of powerful engines, Ichigo turned his head over his shoulder to get a view.

And apparently his abductor was also not from this planet because not 30 feet behind the dissipating mass of dead flesh, was a spaceship! It's door wide open with a small ramp leading into a red lit interior. Any sense that Ichigo's brain was trying to make of the situation went right out the window.

The alien creature that was currently carrying him unceremoniously over his shoulders begun his walk towards the ship, picking up the metallic spear that had been freed from the confines of the hollow's skull and but still stood, jabbed into the ground by its tip.

As they reached the small ramp and begun the ascension into it, a whoosh of air and the pattering of feet caught both the outer-worldly being as well as Ichigo's attention.

The hulking man turned on the spot.

Having reached the entrance to the ship he dropped the boy as he turned, who instantly collapsed to his hands and knees they both looked to the new-comer and watched as the purple haired female walked over to Masaki's empty body and leant down and placed a light hand on the saturated shoulder.

"Oh, no! Masaki!" The unknown woman said out loud.

A few moments later another swish of air and the heavy thumbing of feet resounded through the area.

"MASAKI-CHAN!" The black haired man shouted whom Ichigo recognised as his father, Isshin, but was unable to find his voice. The third, a blonde haired man looked grimly at the scene before him, his long time friend rolling over his dead wife's body to expose the gaping wound in her front that seemed to be filled with hollow Reishi, however when a line of glowing red entered his peripherals he took his view away from the morbid scene and looked down at his chest to see three red dots in a triangle formation that trailed back in a line of light back to a massive pale green man standing in what looked like a spaceship, with dark armour and a mask that the laser light was coming from and what looked to be a small automated shoulder cannon, the whole thing looked like it was straight out of a Sci-Fi movie.

That's when he noticed the small shape of a bloodied, orange haired boy in the shadow of the beast, he was shaking and wobbling from side to side despite being in a sitting position. He recognised the kid instantly. It was Ichigo. He was about to rush to help the kid, but stopped when the three dots on his chest rose up, past his chin and stopped on his forehead.

Raising his hands and the cane he had with him up in surrender, he spoke to the two still sitting next to Isshin's now dead wife.

"Hey, you two, I found Ichigo." His voice was dark and serious.

"What!? Where is he Kisuke!?" They yelled in synchronization, both turning to see their friend with a red laser pointed at his head and his hands up near his shoulders.

They followed the red trail and both their mouth's dropped open when they saw what Kisuke had been staring at.

Then Isshin spotted his son.

"ICHIGO!" The moment the word left his mouth, the targeting laser and the shoulder cannon turned to aim at him and he instantly grit his teeth in frustration, not knowing what to do against this unknown threat that had his only son behind it on the ship.

Kisuke however was silently drawing the Zanpakutō hidden within his cane, quietly muttering it's release phrase as discreetly as he could.

However the being seemed to notice and returned the dots to him. Upon seeing the weapon on its shoulder start to charge blue he instantly shunpoed over to his friends and shouted out just as the glowing blue orb was fired.

"Nake! Benihime!" As the blood red shield appeared between the two parties, a large explosion ensued as the plasma blast collided with the shield. What was left was the shattered pieces of Benihime's protective red barrier and a large cloud of wet, upturned mud and rock.

As things began to settle they heard the telltale sign of engines gearing up. They looked and saw that the ship was indeed lifting off, the two people there in the closing doorway looking back at them. Ichigo was staring at his dad with lifeless and dead eyes with a face covered in his mother's blood, that slowly dripped off onto the warm metal that he was sitting on.

They all watched as his inanimate eyes turned to the limp body of Masaki that Isshin currently held tightly in his arms. He then spoke. Forever leaving that empty sounding shell of a voice echoing through their heads.

"I love you too Momma..."

* * *

_**I have begun removing the author notes from the earlier chapters of this story. **_

_**This is because most of the information and plans in these, for future chapters, has become irrelevant and incorrect. Such as pairings, power and progression.**_

_**If you are new to this story: I greet you with kind regards and many thanks for taking your time to read my first real story to be posted on this site and I sincerely hope you enjoy it.**_


	2. Hunter Rising (Part 1)

Ichigo couldn't tell how much time had passed since he had lost consciousness after being dropped on the floor of the Alien's ship. It could've been a few hours or even a few days, but it didn't really matter to him.

When he had woken up finally, he hadn't opened his eyes. Instead, he just lay there not truly knowing where he was. He had hoped that it was all just a horrible dream, an _Incredibly _horrible dream. But he knew better, It had been far to real and far to outlandish and morbid for anything his young, innocent mind to conjure up during a time of rest.

He lay against the warm metal floor motionless, just listening to the soft hum of the spacecraft's engines. Occasionally he would hear the heavy foot falls of his captor or if he had heard right, captors, walk past every now and then but he refused to open his tear drained eyes.

Eventually though, he had forced himself and opened his eyes. He gazed groggily at the wall opposite him, it was just a plain canvas of raw looking metal, adorned by several levers and buttons next to an empty door frame.

Realising that he wasn't feeling the cold cling of soaked clothing but instead the hard surface of metal against his bare, pink hide, he found that he was actually naked. Stripped bare, released from the grasp of damp cloth and exposed for all around to see. But they -whoever _'_'they' were- had seemed kind enough to provide him with what looked to be the pelt of some exotic animal to keep him covered, Its soft fur brushing softly against his bare legs.

The aches of lying on such a hard surface finally got to him as he put his effort into trying to sit up from his current position, feeling several bones click back into their original places as he lent himself up against the comfortably warm wall that he had been prone against for a indiscernible amount of time.

With one final groan he was upright, his back against the warm steel of the ship and his front facing the entrance to what he recognised as a small cargo bay from all the crates stacked neatly to his left and right. His stomach made a small grumble noise, his body realising he had had anything to eaten since lunchtime on _that_ day. Thinking back to what had happened he was choking back tears, but even if he had let them flow, Ichigo didn't think they would come, he had cried for long enough during his sleep for him to seemingly run out.

Hearing those familiar footsteps approaching again, Ichigo simple stared forward as a pair of plated metal boots came into view from the doorway. He heard those clicks and growls that he remembered hearing when he was being 'inspected.'

Seeing the feet walk towards him, he raised his gaze up to the man who had stopped a few feet short of where he himself was positioned. And was thoroughly surprised. While it was definitely alien it was so... human-like. His now dead mother had always told him he should be nice to everyone he meets and not to judge by how they look. As all good parents should but sadly don't this day and age. So Ichigo had managed to rein in most of his reaction to seeing the interplanetary humanoid before him, but still could do nothing to keep his cold, Dead Eyes from widening.

Before him stool the same, pale green, darkly scaled, 8 foot tall humanoid looking man. His face was much like the rest of his body in that the majority was just the lightly toned skin with various patches of dark scales strewn randomly across his features. His eyes were sunken into his skull and were a piercing yellow with a very noticeable ring of deep maroon around the iris, just above those, where his brow would be were two patches of thin black spikes of various lengths that curved back to the edge of his skull. Around the edge of his noticeably wide and flat forehead were the same spikes, but just next to them, where the hair on a man should be, were dozens of thick, dense looking, tube-shaped dreadlocks, that all tapered to a point around the height of his shoulders, it looked like they grew like that since they were growing directly out of the skin.

However the most notable thing that made him human, was the twin set of mandibles that encased his mouth, each at the vertex of an imaginary square and each armed with a deadly-looking 4 inch talon. Or would it be fang? Inside of all this was fleshy pink skin similar to the inside of a human mouth and a set of jaws both armed with razor sharp teeth that looked built for tearing and rending flesh from bone. Overall it was an incredible intimidating creature that seemed to just resonate with raw power.

They stared at each other like they had back on earth, back at his old home. Empty brown into fierce yellow. Youth into the experienced. He may have been a child but he knew the captor standing in front of him had been through and seen much more than he ever had and probably ever would.

Oh how wrong he was going to be about that.

Ichigo waited as he watched the larger male species (At least he assumed it was a he) grab one of the small crates off the top of one of the piles, set it down before him and proceeded to use it as a seat, the dense steel groaning as he applied his whole weight to it. He sat leaning forward, his forearms resting on his lap with his hands dangling casually between his legs.

Then it spoke. Or at least he thought it spoke, the tone of 'voice' was far too harsh and foreign for Ichigo's brain to really pick up. The hand actions were easy enough to recognise. Laying its palm out flat, it rose it's hand in a quick action, while repeating the quick grunt of speech. Immediately recognising this as a command to 'stand' or maybe 'get up.' Ichigo did so immediately.

With a short struggle to get his malnourished, shaky and just unused legs muscles under his body and his control, he stood. Watching as the discarded pelt was picked up and then flattened out, he noticed that there was actually a large hole in the middle of it -probably where the head of whatever that animal was used to be- as it was handed to him. He took it with his small bony hands, he noted that the thing was surprisingly heavy and fit it over his head and let the fur side lie softly on his shoulders.

The replacement clothing fit. That's really all he could say about it. The poncho of fur and hair came down to his knees and was tied around his waist with a leather strap that was taken off and thrown at him from the armour that his saviour was wearing. It was itchy and it smelt off, but they would be things he would have to get used to, like so many other things from now on. Ichigo didn't have anything to wear underneath it seeing as he had been completely stripped down, his clothing most likely thrown away, it made him feel uncomfortable. But then again why would such a being as the one standing right in front of him ordering him to get dressed, have child sized clothing lying around? So he accepted the partial clothing without argument.

Seeing the massive alien open a small pouch attached to its leg, Ichigo watched as a small knife with a handle of bone was taken out.

With a quick flick of the wrist the blade end was between its fingers with the handle end offered to him. Looking at the waiting green face for a moment and then back at the knife he reached out and grasped the bleached bone and took the 'gift.'

Looking at the well crafted blade in his hand he soon deduced that it was definitely too small for the other to wield as it fit snugly within his hold with the edge of it extending out probably 5 inches. He looked back up to the being who had given it to him.

"A-Arigatō" Was voiced weakly, his mouth dry and his throat hoarse from possible dehydration.

In response he got a short nod, which in turn surprised Ichigo.

"Y-you can un-understand me?" Another nod.

That was something he did not expect, how was this creature, from another planet no less, able to understand his language?

He stopped thinking about it and stared as the alien being stood, returned the crate back to where it had been before and took his place next to the opposite wall.

With another gesture he point at the relatively small blade in Ichigo's hand, then clenched his hand into a fist and made stabbing motion against his broad chest, smacking it a couple of times.

Ichigo was confused. He gets given a knife and then immediately, the one who gave him it, wants to be attacked with the very knife he gave away? That didn't sound right to him. However he decided to voice his confusion.

"You... Want me to attack you?" He got the same quick nod again. "O-oh, okay."

Looking at the knife again his grip tightened around the white bone handle and without truly realising he took off, albeit at a very unsteady pace.

He got within range and took a wild swing at the man's thigh, seeing as he was barely coming up to the aliens hip, making attacking anything else hopeless. His attack was easily side-stepped though.

The next thing that registered in the strawberry haired kid's mind was the feeling of a massive hand gripping the entire back half of his skull and then the feeling of flight and shortly after, a collision with hard metal. The child cried out a high-pitched yelp of pain as he was thrown through the air and into the wall behind the person who had thrown him.

He lay there as his assailant grunted a familiar grunt and repeated that rising hand motion to stand up. Weakly putting his arms and legs under his frail and now apparently injured body, from the small splatter of blood on the floor under him. But he relented, but he didn't know why he did. Getting back onto his feet his charged again.

Why was he doing this? Why didn't he just give up? His mother, the light of his life and the person he loved above all was dead. Murdered. Violently killed by a psychotic man-eating monster, right before his own young, unstained eyes, the eyes that once carried so much life in them, now carried no life at all. So why was he attacking this _thing _in front of him, the thing that had saved him from the death he was so close to embracing. Why did he attack when his legs felt like jelly and were certain to give out any second? Was he seeking revenge against _something _for the death of his parent? Nothing made sense any more. What was the reason his saviour wanted him to attack? He didn't know, all he knew was that he was doing as he was told.

'But...'

He continued to charge, knife by his side ready to strike. Only the few years of karate lessons had allowed him to see, react and then duck under the giant hand approaching his head, it was by no means graceful or even remotely efficient. The hand grazed the top of his head, brushing through the mop of messy orange spikes that was his hair and passed over him. Without a second thought he stumbled forward and struck. His dagger found the mark, embedding itself up to the handle on the inner side of his targets right thigh. Ichigo was shocked that he had managed to get him on his second try.

He heard a deep growl and looked up, only for his vision to be greeted by a backhand to the left side of his face. The boy was sent back to the wall he had hit after his first attempt. His ears were ringing from the powerful strike and his body was locked up, unable to move any more after that.

He could feel the warm trickle of fresh blood running down the side of his face where he had been hit. That would definitely be leaving a mark.

Ichigo could hear the cacophony of clicks and grunts coming from the man he had just stabbed, prying open his non blood filled eye he saw the other's body shaking, he head was thrown back and his mandibles spread out wide. He was laughing?

Stopping his outburst, he looked and the small bleeding boy, mirth clearly evident in his eyes. He had definitely not been expecting the youngling to get in such a good strike so quickly. He would become a terrifying hunter in no time at all.

The corner of Ichigo's mouth had soon perked up into a weak smile as his new trainer pulled the blade out of his leg and handed it back to him, this time in the small pouch that it had originally came from.

'... Why am I enjoying it so much?'

* * *

_Three years after abduction_

Ichigo stood, waiting and hiding in some unknown jungle of some unknown planet in an unknown part of the galaxy, absentmindedly rubbing the three claw marks that had turned to scars from when he stabbed his abductor turned surrogate parent and was given a backhand to the face. Three lines ran, one from the corner of his jaw to the bridge of his nose, the second from his cheek bone thru his eye brow stopping off centre on his forehead and the third running from his temple to where his widows peak would be, if he had one. They weren't overly noticeable, but if one were to actually look at his face they would be able to spot them easily. He had not obtained any other significant scars, only a few training ones on his forearms and torso.

He had kept his hair growing out, as it was now down slightly past his shoulders and was still as pointy and erratic as before, but had flattened out a bit due to the length.

He wore a more human outfit, having grown a fair bit in girth and in height the once knee length fur poncho was now a big sleeveless shirt, and he had adopted a wide loin cloth that went below the back and front his knees and stopped about halfway across his thighs, leaving the outside of legs exposed.

His weaponry now consisting a thin, full metal blade around the length of a machete, but designed for stabbing deep into a prey's body rather than that of a hack and slash style of a wider blade, he also had the same knife he had been giving when they first started his 'training.' Well, more like beat on the new kid until he stabs you. But either way you looked at it, it worked. He learned how to stab properly from them and not just wildly swing the thing until it hits someone. And now they were on his first hunt to try out these newfound skills.

When he had first been taken from his home he had only seen and met one of his captors, but knew there were more. However after recovering from the first set of injuries he had sustained, he had been led to a dining room of sorts, where he met the rest of the crew. Two others sat at a large metal table presumably talking about something, as he walked in behind the one he had been following they gave him a quizzical glance before returning to the conversation they were having.

The food he had been given was much to his surprise, not disgusting, despite how it looked. It looked as if someone had blended a small furry animal and then put it in a dish. The bloody, paste like substance looked rancid and horrible but tasted just like some kind of slightly undercooked meat that he couldn't discern.

Back with the hunt. He was currently waiting on the signal from his fellow huntsmen and was positioned above head height in the hollow of a tree that was overlooking a well used game trail that came out from under the tree he was in. He had been waiting patiently. Motionless. With eyes closed and all focus set on listening for the signal as he had been told to do before the hunt.

A loud whistle was the only warning Ichigo got before a loud explosion shook the very tree he was in from underground, as its sound echoed through the trees of the jungle, followed by thick branches snapping and the pattering of heavy feet from underneath him. He slowly made his way to the edge of the hideout he was in, preparing to drop down on top of the prey that had been chosen for this day's hunt.

At the sound of a guttural, very animalistic growl Ichigo looked down and spotted the beast emerging.

Its body was at least 15 feet long and came up to his shoulder. It looked very much like a lizard on steroids, with compact muscle under long lengths of dense dirt filled, dark brown hair that covered its body. Its head was flat, broad and spade like and had two, foot long tusks protruding from its bottom jaw and pointed straight upwards, while its eye seemed to be covered up by its hair.

Waiting until the last few feet of it were out of the den it had constructed under the tree, Ichigo leaned, teetering on the edge for the right moment. Till it came.

Letting go, he closed the short distance between where he had been waiting and the creatures back. It let out a startled hiss as Ichigo's weight slammed down on it and the boy himself let out a pained wheeze, not expecting it to be so bony, despite how soft it looked with all the hair, when he landed chest first on its back.

Gripping tightly to the hair on its back with one hand, he reached back and grabbed the elongated skinning knife from the sheath strapped to his thigh with the other and felt the beast he was currently riding bareback take off in a wild sprint, taking every opportunity to run through bushes and hit into trees to shake off the unwanted passenger it had unwillingly gained.

After it had ran several hundred feet down the disappearing trail the hair covered lizard burst through a shrub and the two found themselves rolling down into a small clearing. Ichigo had let go as they began their tumble and was the first to stop. Looking around for his weapon, he saw its grip sticking out of the mat of vines that he was currently kneeling on, just a few short feet away from him. Snatching it up quickly as he heard the designated prey growl.

Turning around quickly to see where it was, he came face to face with the tusked beast as it stared at him through its coarse hair from not but a foot away. He noticed the slow dripping of bright red blood and the small pool gathering around its front right leg and how it seemed to be shaking just a small amount as if straining to keep itself from collapsing onto that leg. It seemed that the blind jabs he had been taking into its shoulder joint had hit their mark. He was proven correct as he noticed out of the corner of his eye that his steel and hand were currently smeared with the same coloured substance.

His hand at the moment were shaking. Both from the adrenaline and the large amount of fear he was currently going through. This was his first hunt and it was going to be his first kill. He either slays this beast himself, or get gored and mauled to death by the thing that he was meant to be hunting. Ichigo knew that the others had followed him, but he didn't know if they would help, they had tasked him to be the one who would kill their next meal and didn't know if they would help him if he was going to die, because it would be dishonourable to save another when they should be dying in the battle that they couldn't win.

Ichigo thought that was stupid at first, shouldn't they be helping their friends and teammates? Why would they let them die? It wasn't for a while until he found out that accepting help to survive when you're going to die, was considered weak to them.

The deep growl from the animal before him was the only warning he got before closed the short distance between them and charged, Ichigo simply dodged, diving to the side. It wasn't an animal meant for killing, the tusks were probably for ripping roots out of its home, but could be turned into a deadly defensive weapon in an instant, so it was not to be underestimated despite how slowly it had attacked.

It turned back to Ichigo who was standing, legs slightly bent and back hunched over a bit, with the blade out in front, his whole body ready to react accordingly to the bleeding creature's next move.

It charged again. It was really the only thing it could do. Waiting for it to get a bit closer, the strawberry blonde pre-teen stood still, until it was within arm's length.

Quickly stepping to the right to get out of its charging path, he shot a hand out, bracing his feet against the ground, then grabbed the tusk closest to him. Three years of training on that ship had not prepared him for what happened next. The moment he had grasped the massive tooth he pulled back, he expecting his grip to tighten and then be dragged along with its momentum, but instead the beasts head snapped back towards Ichigo and its body swung outwards, pivoting around the tusk and the hand gripping it as if it were on a hinge.

Due to its weakened leg and the sudden change in bodily direction it crashed to the ground in a hairy heap and growled out a pained moan. Ichigo tried to raise his hand on the arm he had grabbed the tusk with, but only winced when a strong pain shot through is shoulder. Holding back a tear that had been coming to his eye due to the pain coming from his dislocated shoulder, he crouched next to the downed animal, who had stopped moving probably from blood loss and exhaustion. He pressed all his weight behind his knee on top of its snout to hold it down and stop it from thrashing about and potentially hurting him with the one of the jaw spikes, he took the long knife he had in his shaking hand and aimed it just behind its jaw and pressed it against its pelt. He paused for a moment to think. He was about to kill what he thought would be a normally harmless animal, that was doing nothing but living out its life, could he really do that? He felt a nagging at the back of his mind to go through with it, then a sudden wave of memory.

He remembered that monster that had killed his mother right in front of him and how they had just been going about their lives when it had happened, for a moment he thought it felt the rain on his arms again, but realised he had unknowingly started to cry from the upbringing of those horrible memories. He didn't want to be like that monster, he wouldn't be like that monster. Another nagging feeling from his conscience and another flood of memories. This time it was from the start of the hunt, from when he was trying to understand instructor was telling him and being able to only pick out a few words from the few that he had managed to pick up, though he managed to piece most of it together and take a guess at what was being told, which was that he was doing this to eat, survive and grow stronger and that he needed to kill his prey quickly, as to not let it suffer in defeat.

Ichigo then realised the difference between himself and that monster.

He was killing to Survive. So that he could live on for longer. He killed so that he could honour those he deemed worthy kills by taking their skulls as trophies and putting them on display for the rest to recognise, he would remember every scar and every wound that he's given, as an homage to those who had fallen to his hand and blade, signifying that they could provide others with a good hunt.

While the skull masked beast had only killed to do exactly that. To kill. There was no honour in targeting those who could not defend themselves properly. No honour in killing those needed to keep that species alive and they who, once old enough, could _become _a huntable prey _and_ make worthy trophies.

Not wasting any more time, he looked down at the unmoving beast under him, reared his knife back from its neck, then with a sharp and sudden stabbing motion buried the whole of the blade through the neck, severing the spine and killing it instantly. A spray of blood shot out of the wound with the withdrawal, colouring his face with a splatter of red. He sat next to the haired beast, his cold, sad eyes staring into the blank, lifeless orbs of his first kill.


	3. Hunter Rising (Part 2)

_Six years after abduction_

'For three days I have been fighting these damnable Serpents.' An obviously weary and cold voice thought...

A lot had happened since his first hunt. The most notable thing being that Ichigo had grown considerably it the last three years, both physically and mentally.

He had hit and started going through puberty soon after killing that haired reptilian. Back then he was not but a few inches over 4 and a half feet, but now he was only a hair short of being a tall, yet comparatively short six feet. His long, bright orange hair was now done up in several dozen dense and smooth dreadlocks each held together tightly by a multitude of black rings, imitating the 'hair' of the hunters around him, albeit a completely different colour. His physique had also dramatically filled out as well. Instead of the small, toned muscles that was needed of a martial artist, he now had larger, power-orientated muscles, more suitable for that of a heavy weight kick boxer or a brawler.

Although he had great power behind his hits now he definitely was not lacking in speed. Unlike the body's of the Yautja, who's seemed to grow for the sole purpose of physical strength, leaving the gear and weapons to make up for the lack of real dexterity, Ichigo's was not. In fact, they had soon learned that he was becoming much faster than those who trained him, using his agility to get under their guard and land a few hard punches, which they easily shrugged off, as well as using his greater mobility and much lighter build to use their strikes to propel himself away and out of the fight, landing safely a fair distance from them.

But his strength was definitely not to be underestimated. The most notable displays of this strength are when he proves himself capable of throwing the several hundred pound Yautjas away from himself a few feet, as well as the ability to shatter rock and splinter trees with kicks that he seems to unconsciously empower with the extreme amounts of energy that he constantly emits.

When they had realised that he was essentially a walking power plant they took advantage of it. Usually the three Yautja that were housing him would use the ship's inbuilt solar-charged batteries to re-power some of the equipment they used, much like the Plasma-Caster.

But it was tedious, the power cells took weeks to recharge after being drained and that was if they were close enough to a large star, they also ran the risk of overworking the ships main power supply which would most likely cause it to float powerlessly in space until it had been fixed, which could took a few days. Also another drawback was that when out hunting, any game with a reasonable sense of self-preservation and instinct would flee the moment he came within a hundred yards of them.

But they soon started using him, or rather, his radiant energy to power their equipment. By simply holding their wrist computers near his body they were able to sap the energy that was present in the air that surrounded him. This did not in any way weaken him though. It seemed that the energy they took and used from him was merely his excess output and not the core of his power. Soon after finding this out they had also had soon found a solution to the hunting problem as well.

They had custom made Ichigo a set of armoured clothing, since he had well outgrown the pelt and leather suit that he wore a few years ago. His new gear was much the same as his fellow clan. Dark steel covering the upper left portion of his chest this included both his shoulders and upper arms. He wore thick metal greave on each shin over a simple steel boot and a line of over-lapping armour plates that covered the outside of his thighs. Around his waist was a belt that sported many clips and holsters for equipment and field gear, attached to this hung a knee length loin cloth made of plates of layered metal. All of this was put over a body suit of diamond patterned netting that clung tightly and moulded over every muscle on his body.

This however was not what kept his waves of energy from disturbing their hunts. It was the customised wrist computer that did it. They had managed to get the inbuilt active camouflage system to passively mask his energy's 'presence' and then have it filtered through the wrist computer and into a converted energy pack that would've been used to power some of his gear but instead shoots his power straight back into his body, creating a never ending cycle.

This came with both benefits and drawbacks. The rewards for such a system were: Being able to make his energy signature completely disappear along with an increase in his strength, endurance and speed. But the cost was great. Extended periods of time with the system fully suppressing the power he emitted would be detrimental to his health; he would suffer from cases of extreme bodily pain, where his flesh would start to tear itself apart, his bones would start to break and he would be unable to sleep with all the energy that his body was trying to contain. To fix this, they eventually put a release valve and a gauge of sorts on his filter system, that allowed him to change they degree and amount of power that was being suppressed or released at any given time. Slowly, he began to train his body to endure the extreme pain, gradually increasing the suppression levels over time.

Also the nagging feeling that he had felt many years ago seemed to grow and become a faint murmur in the back of his mind, like somebody was trying to talk to him, but couldn't because they were behind a soundproofed wall.

It was around four days ago that Ichigo had been told that he would be participating in a Rite of Passage along with two other youngbloods, on a long abandoned planet that had been overrun years ago by an infestation of Xenomorphs, or Serpents as the Yautja have come to calling them, they're a large insect-like species, most noticeable by their jet black carapace and long heads, they often take on characteristics of their hosts when they are growing inside of them, like bodily structure or unique features.

The population on the planet had seemed to begin to dwindle and had been chosen for eradication through combat, making this the objective of the Rite of Passage for Ichigo and the two other youngbloods, since he had been deemed old and now strong enough to participate.

Having gotten his Bio-Mask along with all this armour and other gear, he was now able to communicate with the Yautja he lived with. The guessing game he had played with them, which was, trying to figure out what he had been told, was now no longer an issue since the blank metal mask seemed to have a translation system built into it. He had found out from their clan leader that if he didn't have the Bio-Mask he would be unable to even participate in the ritual, since the atmosphere on the planet would kill him if he tried to breath it.

Also with the language barrier broken he had found out the clan names that they each had. Their leader was named Dark Knife and the two he was going with were Heartless and Warhorse. He was told he had been given the name Dead Eye. They said it was because of how his left eye didn't have any life in it whenever he wouldn't have his mask on. That. And whenever they used to hunt his whole expression seemed to be dead, like his concentration had killed him but his body kept moving.

But ever since the start of his Rite of Passage his chances of actually dying had risen tremendously.

At the start of his trail, three days ago, he was dropped on the stretch of earth and told to eliminate the last of the hive of Xenomorphs that had taken up residence on this part of the unknown planet. It started out as a simple sweep and clear and was rather easy for Ichigo and the two other youngbloods, simply going through various sandstone tunnels that were scattered across a seemingly endless amounts of arid sandy plains, clearing each of the three or four residents that it was harbouring and then moving onto the next, it soon got very monotonous and dull. It wasn't till the second day's rising sun that all hell broke loose.

They were camped on top of a enormous hill, one side of it was sheer cliff face, the other was a gradual slope. When they heard the distinct screeching of the Serpents they turned in its direction. All they saw was an ocean of black erupting from a large crevice and crack on hillside that led up to their current position.

How had they not picked up on the presence of this many Serpents?! How deep did the nest go? Had they been wrong and were those ones they had killed only been sentries or guardians for the greater hive of bees?

The Xenomorphs were numerous but they were small, much smaller than the ones that they were killing yesterday, but definitely just as dangerous and not to be underestimated at any cost.

All three hunters had since sprung into action after seeing the metaphorical eruption of shining black bodies flood out of the ground. Each took up their own personal weapons and got ready to fight for their lives. Even though they were severely out numbered and more than likely outmatched, they would not back down and they could not retreat, their honour wouldn't allow them to do such acts, to do such thing was cowardly and was shameful to the Yautja race.

All three fired off their charged up Plasma-Casters, discharged the super heated energy and with a large explosion, the fight for survival had begun...

Minutes felt like hours. Hours, like days and Days, weeks. It never seemed to stop. But in reality it had only been about a day and a half since the gates of hell opened up, it was agonisingly slow either way.

Warhorse had fallen. He had gotten overconfident in his own strength and abilities to eliminate the Xeno's with his Glaive, while the spear like weapon was incredibly efficient at cleaving through waves of the serpents at a medium range with only a single swing. It had a few fatal flaws. The main being that once they got within his swinging range and managed to survive the deadly arc of the bladed pole's swing, there was little he could do about it that was remotely efficient, lest he drop his glaive and fight with his fists and Wrist Blades. So once a few finally got under his swing and he tried to deal with them, everything went downhill.

He became distracted by the three Serpents that got under his guard, he had tried bringing his weapon around full circle and take them out by increasing the distance between them, as to get them at the end of his blade, but once his back was turned they had jumped, landing their five foot tall bodies on his much larger nine and a half foot frame, they instantly began driving their razor sharp claws along with the tips of their tails into the exposed sections of flesh, causing him to stop the wide swing of the glaive and focus on getting the pests off his body. That was the mistake that cost him his life.

The moment he had stopped his brutally efficient swings the rest of the Xenomorphs had charged launching themselves at his body, overpowering him, their weight to much to bear, he collapsed to the ground with a bestial roar and was then covered by the Serpents, as they started shredding him piece by piece, limb by limb, inevitably bringing his death.

Dead Eye and Heartless however were still alive and fairing a bit better than Warhorse had been as they had been working together in a weird sort of tandem.

Heartless, who had specialised in ranged combat more than anything, was supporting Ichigo from a short distance away, firing off well aimed shots with his duel Plasma-Casters, additionally throwing the hyper-deadly Smart-Disk, a discus like weapon with a bladed edge and capable of ripping through multiple personnel with a single throw, then return to its owner in a very boomerang like fashion, making it very efficient at cleaving through rings of the slowly decreasing number of Serpents.

Dead Eye, or rather, Ichigo, was in the thick of it all. Going tooth and nail against the Xenos with his fists, legs and blades. Said blades were the same elongated fillet knife he had used on his first hunt, he also used Wrist Blades, a pair of protruding, eight inch long blades that are connected to his right wrist bracer and are capable of retracting and extending back out at will. These, mixed with his enhanced strength and endurance made him an incredibly powerful warrior, but he could feel his bones creaking under the strain of his power, at roughly fifty percent being compressed the repercussions of such strenuous activity and for such an extended amount of time were beginning to arise and hinder Ichigo's performance. And though he had not suffered any real external injuries, the only thing that had seemed to be keeping him from being torn apart was his armour, which was slowly being dismantled and removed from his body by the Xenomorphs that would grab onto him hoping to bring him down, only to receive a blade to the face causing near instant death.

Ichigo's body itself seemed to be resisting their physical attacks. Their claws would not pierce his skin and the tails would bounce off his body when they tried to impale him. This had confused him at first but he noticed the veins around where he was being struck would always be inked and pulsating with power, so he figured that the amount of compression that his power was at gave him some kind of hyper-resilience. This had proven to be a life saver on many occasions, but it did nothing to protect him from the Xenomorphs acidic blood if any got on him and stayed on him.

He had learnt that the hard way after having half of this left hand buried inside the head of one Xeno from the powerful cross chop.

The whittling number of Serpents was looking to be a good sign for Ichigo, but he had noticed that the majority of them were changing their focus of attention onto Heartless.

He wasn't firing his shoulder mounts any more, so he had more than likely ran out of the energy that powered the Casters. So he was now reduced to holding his Smart-Disk and using it at as a melee weapon, plus his own Wrist Blades. But since he had specialised in ranged combat he had less hand to hand experience than the other two clan brothers that were with him. And it was slowly beginning to prove disastrous for him, as he had started taking heavy hits.

Not willing to die by the hands of the ravenous Serpents who have been deemed by the Yautja to not be a worthy hunt or foe in anyway due to them being seen as a pest in need of eradication. So he chose to die by the only form of honourable suicide that would provide adequate termination for not only his own body, so that it would not be recovered by anyone, but also the bodies of the surrounding Xenomorphs.

A built-in Self-Detonation device on his wrist computer.

"Dead Eye!" Heartless' harsh voice rang out.

Hearing his clan name be called, Ichigo turned briefly to see Heartless being overwhelmed by the Serpents and then heard the sound of a loud beeping coming from him.

"Run! Flee! Live to hunt another day! Bring us honour and survive the Rite of Passage!"

Dead Eye knew what he was doing, he had been told about the inbuilt self-destruct sequence that all Yautja had in their wrist computers incase they fail a hunt and couldn't let their technology fall into the wrong hands.

It was dishonourable to run from a hunt that you had started, but Ichigo recognised that it would've been _far_ more dishonourable, possibly maim worthy of the Predator's name and memory, to kill another hunter that was still willing to fight, while ending his own.

Ichigo knew it wouldn't be possible to go through the waves of black bodies and over the slowly dissolving pits of acid-like blood without getting caught in the blast. So he looked towards his only other option. The cliff.

Slowly he began pacing backwards to the edge of the cliff, taking care to not fall down or trip over a carcass and condemn himself to death by the Serpents.

Once he got to the edge he prepared himself, the fall would not kill him if he landed right, so he took his time. But he did not have time to react however as a blinding flash enveloped the area, followed by the body of a Xeno colliding with his front, its claws digging deep into his chest and followed again by an explosion of epic proportions. Next thing Ichigo knew was the feeling of the concussive wave of the bomb's detonation smashing into him, being lifted off his feet and then the feeling of rushing air past his limp cadaver.

After several long moments, Ichigo felt his back collide with the solid earth and could not hold back a pained scream.

The agony of having multiple bones shatter and probably a couple of punctured organs had become only dull pain as his body and mind fought to keep his from blacking out from pain.

How had he survived all of that? Were Ichigo's main thoughts. He didn't know how or why, maybe his compressed energy saved him? Or the ambient power he had been producing into the air acted as a kind of buffer, along with the Serpent that had attached itself to him at the last second but was probably now nothing but a steaming pile of acidic slop.

Lifting his broken arms painfully to where he could see them, he opened his wrist computer and activated the homing beacon that it had set into it, to signal that they had finished the hunt that they were currently on.

He didn't know if that explosion had killed them all. Hell, it had almost killed him! But it was obvious that anything that was caught in that blast were dead and most likely incinerated, so he didn't have to worry about being chased down.

For the next hour he slipped in and out of consciousness while listening to the howling wind of the harsh desert-like planet and the sound of the blood pumping in his ears which had felt like they had burst from the explosion, but apparently hadn't. Lying there half dead on the hard ground he waited, only listening to the wind and the now faint voice in his head that felt strangely warm for a very odd reason. It was like the voice was comforting and praising him for his good work and assuring he would survive and that he just needs to hold on for a while longer. He couldn't truly hear the voice and what it was saying it was mainly just the emotions it conveyed, but maybe in time he would be able to.

The powerful roaring of engines brought him out of his musings, followed by metal against metal and then voices. Dark Knife was here. He would live...

His body being lift was the last thing he felt before passing out.

* * *

_A Few days later._

Ichigo was surprised when he woke up with only a dull ache in his bones and not the agonising pain that he was expecting to be in. Instantly remembering that Dark Knife had found him and had probably started healing his wounds.

But why could he feel liquid everywhere? And why could he feel, what could only be, a tube going down his throat?

Slowly prying open his eyes they stung at coming into contact with whatever fluid seemed to be surrounding his body, but slowly he adjusted. All he could see was the faint glow of green lights and the blurry movements of flowing water. Reaching out to see if he could feel anything, his left hand touch something in front of him. He ran his fingers along it, he recognised its smooth texture as glass. So was he in some kind of tank? Maybe it's something medical? But the small ship he had been on for the past six years had nothing like this, so was he on a different one?

When multiple things moved in his vision beyond the glass his hand was pressed against it confirmed his theory, there had only been three other Yautja on that ship and two of them were now dead. But since he was now suspended in a what he thought was a liquid healing tank or something of the likes and could see multiple, very big, distinct shapes moving in his vision he knew he was no longer on that hellish planet or on the ship that he had nearly spent half his life in.

He heard some loud beeping from just outside the thing that he was in and the currents in the water around him started to gradually slow, until they finally stopped and the liquid became stagnant. Finally able to properly see he noticed that he had a large respiratory mask attached to his face, that explained the tube going into his lungs.

He was also stripped bare again, like that mattered at all, he had stopped caring what state of dress he was in when around others a long time ago, he hunted practically half naked anyway, so he didn't see any problem with being fully exposed. His hair had also been undone from its tight dreadlocks apparently, as he observed the mass of strawberry-blonde hair floating around his head.

He saw things move in his vision again. Looking back out of the chamber he noticed there were three Yautja just outside the tank he was floating in. Two he didn't recognise, but the third one he knew instantly from having memorised the skin colour and patches of scales that mottled his face. It was Dark Knife.

Ichigo watched as the tallest of the three walked up to the glass and stood there. He could see the features far more clearly than the others now that the Yautja was up close. His own eyes widened quite a bit.

Was this a female? It must've been. He had talked to the other huntsmen while on the first ship about them and how to identify them amongst the males of their race.

Larger physique? Check.

Softer facial features? Check.

More vibrant and ornate colour range? Check.

She was definitely female.

They had also told him about how they were much less numerous than the males. Meaning that should he meet one, they should be treated with incredible amounts of respect, since the survival of their race is almost dependant on them being the only one capable of reproducing and birthing offspring.

So not wishing to disrespect her by staring at her like an endangered animal, he lowered his gaze to his feet and avoided eye contact.

He heard a something being pressed against the glass of the tank he was in but dared not look up in case he do something that may upset the female. A minute later he heard a quick tap on the glass, she wanted his attention. He warily brought his gaze up, she was still standing there but he kept going and kept lifting his view until he was looking straight at her. She was slightly closer to the glass and she had her right hand, -which only had four fingers, most likely lost the fifth some time ago by the looks of the space between her pinky and middle finger- pressed up against the outside surface of the glass pane.

Looking at the hand for a moment, then to her briefly. He hesitantly brought up his left. Not seeing her take her own hand away, he placed it against the glass right where hers was.

It was massive compared to his own, and he noted that he now also was missing a digit. His entire little finger was gone, as well as the part of the palm where the rest of the bones for that finger would be. Around the missing segment of his palm was heavy scarring where it had healed over what hadn't dissolved. He saw this but showed little reaction to it.

He instead had moved his eyes back to the female Yautja and their gaze met. Those eyes! They seemed so full of apparent kindness and care. They brought back painful but at the same time, such beautiful memories... Of his mother and how she would show that kind of affection to him and his sister... sisters?

His own eyes seemed to lose their life, as he realised he was forgetting the life he once had... he had long forgotten his sibling(s?) faces and the face of their ever-cheerful father... The only face he remembered was the one of his mother and the look on her decapitated head as it stared blank at him from the ground, silently mocking him, as his nine year old brain realised he couldn't protect the one thing he had sworn to protect.

He had eventually learnt to not mourn her death though. And slowly the pain eased... But the memory would always be something that would stay and haunt him forever.

Looking up back into the female's eyes they stayed like that for a brief period of time.

Finally breaking the eye contact. She gave him the equivalent of a smile and he, as best he could with a respirator on his face, returned it in full to the woman he would from now on call his second mother.


	4. Hunter Rising (Part 3)

_Nine Years after abduction._

Ichigo had been in that tank for only a few more hours after waking up.

Dark Knife and the other Yautja, who he later found out was the space vessel's captain alongside being the Elder of the clan that lived on it, had ran multiple diagnostic tests on him which, much to his great displeasure, were excruciatingly painful. As having mechanically controlled needles driven into your flesh and bones would be. But Ichigo did not falter or show that he was in pain. He just kept looking at the eyes and face of Masa, as he had come to call the female Yautja who had been standing by him as he endured the tests that were performed on him, trying what she could to comfort him. Even though he didn't really need such treatment, he was grateful for it anyway.

They had both instantly bonded with each other after Ichigo was released from the tank. She had, with permission from the Elder, taken him back to her personal living quarters within the ship.

After acquiring his mask they had been able to finally talk to each other. It felt strange to him though, talking to his surrogate mother that is. This was the first time he had spoken to another gender in over six years, albeit from another species and one that practically worshipped them no less, but another gender all the same.

They had talked for a while, mainly about each other and how they had grown up, or at least what they remembered.

She had been nice enough to redo his hair back into the tightly bound dreads that he had adopted before they had been undone while he had been healing, only this time they were much neater and more even.

Though that was after Masa had unceremoniously picked him up by his well muscled forearms and then dumped into the deep pool that was a Yautja's bath. And he broke the surface of the water with an annoyed grumble and watched as she laughed at him, but he did what he what she so nicely hinted him to do.

Over the next three years they only grew closer and their bond grew stronger. They would have wrestling matches to grow strong, share a cot to become closer and more often than not, bathe together after a sparring match.

These matches Ichigo had been opposed to initially, for the sake of not wanting to fight with a woman of the Yautja race and risk being disowned by the males and sentenced to death for it. When he was slammed into a wall at the end of the training room behind him by a bone-crushingly powerful kick to the chest his decision change near instantly. It was that that sparked their daily sparring sessions to life. He had also been surprised the day that she had joined him while he was bathing. He wasn't surprise that she had actually joined him, it was that he didn't care that she had done so, even with both of them in a fully disrobed state he'd had no really reaction to it.

He had learnt while sparring with Masa that, while the female body size is comparatively bigger than a males, it didn't carry over into a directly proportional increase in strength. She was by no means weaker, but she was only physically more powerful than the males that he had lived with on _that_ ship by a small amount. Masa was however, much more nimble than the males. Being able to dodge Ichigo's punches with relative ease and finesse as well as being able to force her substitute child, who was a great majority faster than most all of the Yautja, to not just run in and attack her, like he had done with the males, but to plan out a form of attack.

The three years passed quickly and the two had become practically inseparable, as well as growing exponentially stronger alongside each other, adapting and varying their fighting style constantly to be able to be efficient a multiple forms of combat. They often fought with the male Yautja that would be in the sparring room as the practised themselves. Masa had just gotten stronger and faster as that was and her reactions quickened, she was truly frightening as a woman of their race. But Ichigo had been to most drastic in regards to improvements in combat abilities and in addition, his physique had filled out further.

He had trained his body further to withstand the ever increasing pressure that his body went through when he had compressed the radiant energy that he put out and as of three years ago when he could only comfortably compress around forty to fifty percent of it all. Now though, nine years after he been claimed by the Yautja that he would now call his new family. Especially Masa. He was at just around ninety percent suppression.

It had taken him the better part of two years to get to eighty percent from fifty, but now that last twenty percent to get to an absolute compression rate was the hardest and definitely the most painful thing he had done so far. The energy that he put out grew by incredible amounts as each month went by and so, as he got to the higher percentages while condensing that energy, it became far more brutal and harsh on his form than his previous bouts of training had been.

Much like when he had originally started trying to get all his power reined in, his muscles and the sinew would tear itself from his bones as he fought or sparred, these bones would crack and shatter slowly as the flesh peeled away and his skin would flay and rip in a burst of red. Most notable was when at the elevated levels, his sclera would flood a deep reddish black, like every blood vessel had ruptured inside his eye and then had a wash of ink through it. This did not hinder his vision in anyway and it also didn't cause any pain on top of the already existing levels of agony.

The power in his hits seemed to grow exponentially in the higher levels, the sacrifice of pain was for an unstoppable killing machine. One made of unadulterated fury and the carnal desire for violence and gore-ridden brutality.

Near nothing could damage his skin in this state, let alone wound him. Not even the sharpest of their blades had been able to do as much as penetrate the hyper-resilient hide. Though, Masa had been able to break both his forearms with a powerful leg kick that he had tried to block, which obviously didn't turn out well and it revealed that his skin, though unbroken, did nothing against blunt force trauma. She had to force him to stop fighting and get his arms healed, but he had ignored her, instead opting to continue fighting, even with the severely fractured limbs.

While this dedication was admirable in a real fight, they were, at that moment, just merely been wrestling and helping Ichigo train up his tolerance towards having such a high level of his power being suppressed and when she had seen the bloodthirsty look on his face and in his eyes, alongside his tear ducks leaking the very crimson-coloured fluid that kept him alive. Had Masa been a lesser being or had not shared such a close connection with Dead Eye, she would have more than likely backed down, but instead chose the hard route and ended up pinning him to the ground, using her greater mass and size to her advantage, at which point she had practically ripped off his wrist computer, completely releasing the destructive weight of his power to bear down on hers and anyone else's body within the training area.

Ichigo's reaction to that was to instantly pass out.

So it was now, three years after those three gruelling days on that arid planet, three years after waking up in that liquid-filled, glass tank and three years after he had met his new mother, that he was standing on another jungle-like planet that the Yautja had turned into a '"Game Preserve" as they put it. And having been sent here in a drop pod launched just outside of orbit, he was glad he was here and not in that metal missile.

He was tasked to do clean up for the latest hunt that the planet had hosted and needed to retrieve the dead bodies of the Yautja who had failed to kill all the game, instead found themselves being beaten by the last survivors, and to claim any unclaimed trophies that the hunt might have turned up, since he had been deemed the most mobile and agile as well as the most suitable, making the cleanup and retrieval process faster.

Ichigo had been informed that the targets for the 'Super Predators' that had inhabited the game planet were human. He showed no reaction to this nor did he find any reason to, he knew they hunted his own species back on Earth. It was the fact that he would see his own kind once again that gotten a reaction out of him, it been nine years since the last time he had seen a human being, he barely remembered the names of his family and had forgotten completely what they had looked like and how their voices sounded to his ears. They had more than likely forgotten the same things about him and probably thought he was dead by now.

He only remembered his real mother, or rather, what was left of her and three heads of messy blonde, long purple and spiky black hair that had appeared right before he had been taken away.

At the prospect of seeing another human not matter what the circumstances were, it had only made him want to go voluntarily.

So he had soon found himself leaping through the jungle treetops, from branch to branch, as it was much faster than running on foot along the uneven ground and much safer as he would risk setting off an inactivated trap should he travel in that fashion. He knew that there were a couple of survivors left, he had been told this by the elder that gave him the mission, so he knew they would be dangerous, seeing as they had managed to kill off the local Yautja population with only the weapons that they had been given.

The sensors on the ship had picked up two of the dead Yautja's wrist computers. This had been relayed to him and he was told the general area in which their bodies would be located, once he got this information he had turned on his Active Camouflage and bounded off in the closest target's direction.

After several minutes of leaping through the high growing leaves he eventually came to a grassy clearing and stopped atop a thick branch and observed the field for any sign of the dead hunter. What he did not expect to see was two humans standing next to the very predator he had been looking for.

One was a relatively short woman, easily a foot under his own high, with shoulder length black hair and a darkish skin tone. She wore a dark green clothing and had a large firearm strapped to her back and she seemed to be shouting at something else that was in the jungle further to his right.

The other person, he now recognised as a man, he was several inches shorter than himself and had a rather pale complexion with a shaved head of hair. The man stood there wearing a light grey suit over exposed blood soaked bandages, that probably explained his pale look, and a pair of long, grey dress pants and a weapon that was all too familiar to Ichigo. He was wielding a Japanese katana. This seemed to intrigue him further.

He had been ordered to just play clean and retrieve for trophies and the dead Yautja and if he didn't encounter whoever was left surviving which had been the most plausible outcome, he would just leave. But if he did, he was to offer them a way off the game preserve, if they didn't immediately try to kill him on sight that is. If they didn't, he would bring them with him once he had gotten to both of the hunter's bodies and any worthy trophies.

Ichigo decided to reveal his presence from afar, instead of just walking up to them and announcing his arrive, just in case they chose to become hostile. He turned his caster's targeting laser on and lined it up with the females forehead hoping to get an instant reaction. He succeeded. Partially.

He did manage to get the attention of two standing in the field successfully, but had also got someone else's attention when the dark-haired girl had stopped shouting.

A series of loud bangs and all the plants that were around him started almost literally exploding to life.

Abandoning his current position in favour of not getting hit, he leapt down from the now splintered tree and began an accelerated sprint in the direction the numerous gunshots were coming from, switching to his Bio-Mask's thermal vision to light up his attacker for him and the rapid flashes of heat emanating from their weapon.

Ichigo very quickly discovered and zeroed in on the third human. If he could he wouldn't kill the person for trying to kill him.

Still moving in a very locomotive state he was gaining ground quickly, until he finally slammed into the person. Ichigo heard a very startled grunt and continued carrying the offending human who was currently trying to stab him with some kind of large knife, a large distance before colliding with one of the plentifully thick trees and coming to a stop with a sickening crunch. Not wanting the person to get away, he grabbed the humans hand in his own and with a sharp squeeze and a grotesque crack and broke several of the bones in the knife-wielding hand forcing it to be dropped.

Snatching it out of mid air, Ichigo quickly drew it back, lifted the still claimed limb and drove it straight through the person's bicep and into the tree, effectively pinning his target to it.

As he backed away from the stuck victim he chose to deactivate his camouflage and make himself visible to the world around him. He could hear the other two coming up behind him from the bushes over the sound of the pained wheezes and his own calm breaths. He could tell they were trying to be quiet but they were failing horrendously.

Swapping his vision back to normal he recognised that he had pinned another male to the tree with his knife. This one was also only a few inches shorter than him, he was tanned and wore what looked similar to what someone from an army would wear back on earth. His hair was a short mess of dark brown.

Ichigo stared at him through the blank expression of his Bio-Mask and the man stared back at him. Then he spoke.

"So you're new arrival I see." His voice, deep and pained. Understandable when you've got a knife going through your arm and a hand wrapped around your throat.

**"**_**Yes.."**_Ichigo's voice came out distorted from behind the mask and sounded barely distinguishable to the man since Ichigo was speaking a different language altogether.

"I take it that since you haven't killed me yet that you aren't here to finish us off, so then, why are you here?"

**"I can.. T**_**ake you home.."**_Ichigo's distorted voice came through again.

"What the fuck are you saying..?" Clearly not understanding what was being said to him.

"He's saying he can take us home." A second male voice spoke up. Ichigo turned to see the bleeding man with the Katana emerging from the bush behind him. now that he got a better look at him Ichigo had noticed that he had probably come from his own country from when he lived on earth.

"Now how could you know that Hanzō?" The third, this time female voice spoke up as she came out of the same bush with her firearm's barrel lined up to his head. That name definitely sounded like it was from Japan.

"Because he is speaking Japanese. _Am I correct?_" Hanzō's stoic voice answer and then questioned.

**"**_**You are.." **_Ichigo answered.

"How could he speak Japanese? Isn't he not one of 'them'." The woman's voice very noticeably confused.

"No, he's not, Isabelle. Look at his skin and hair." The man pinned to the tree pointed out, wincing as he moved his arm. He had noticed the distinctly human features when Ichigo had turned to look at Hanzō.

Doing as he said. Hanzō and Isabelle actually took a brief second looked him over and noticed how his skin was a tanned pink instead of the rotten green colouration that they had seen on the predators that were using them as game. And his hair was not the thick black dreads that they had growing out of their heads, It was instead a swept back bundle of strawberry-blonde dreadlocks that had been tightly spun and hung down past his shoulders.

_**"He... Is right..."**_ Confirmed Ichigo.

"He says that you are right Royce." Honzō relayed as they watched him bring his hand up to the side of his mask and disconnected a couple of tubes that let out a jet of steam. They waited and watched as Ichigo pulled his mask off to reveal his face, they were all fascinated to see that behind that mask was a young looking Asian man, suited in the armour and had the gear that the other hunters had.

_"Was told to come here... To cleanup and retrieve... Was told to offer... If I found surviving prey... A way home..." _Ichigo's voice no longer distorted by his customised Bio-Mask.

Royce and Isabelle looked at Hanzō for a translation.

"He said he was sent as cleanup and that if he found us, he could give us a way home. Though it was very broken up, like he hasn't spoken this way in many years." His voice was sounding increasingly hopeful as he watched the orange-haired boy let go of Royce's neck and the wrench the wood and metal hunting knife out of his arm with a small spray of blood.

"Why would he do that when they had sent us here to be killed?" Isabelle asked.

Ichigo looked questioningly at the other Japanese man and asked what the question was, once he was answered he simply said "_You survived hunt... You killed hunters..._" And then took off to retrieve the bodies he was sent here to get. He got to the one in the field and much to the other human's astonishment he just picked the hunter up and hoisted it onto his shoulder with no noticeable exertion and began walking in the direction that the other Yautja was in, like the several hundred pound lifeless body was nothing to him.

They had found the battered and bashed body of the second Super Predator after a couple of hours of walking in relative silence, he dropped his cargo and activated his homing beacon. And they waited.

* * *

_One year after cleanup mission._

The three surviving humans, Royce, Isabelle and Hanzō had been put on a smaller ship several days after arriving on the main Yautja space vessel. They were acknowledged as for their feats of managing to survive the hunt and also killing the resident hunters and were allowed return to their home and deemed a worthy hunt and an honourable prey, that would never be hunted again.

So it was now, one year later, that Dead Eye sat in his residence's bathing room after another long training day with Masa. He still remembered that mission and the short time he had spent with his own race. As he remained silent, idly watched the ripples of the water surface and how they would lap against his mother's form, from across the large bath. He thought about the three people he had met, but mainly Hanzō, it had been so long since he had interacted with people other than the Yautja and he wanted to see his own kinda again.

"M-mother Masa?" He voice wavered briefly.

She turned her head to her surrogate son and looked straight into his eyes. She loved looking at his eyes when she had her own Bio-Mask on. They were so different from her own race's and no matter what state they were in they were always strong and filled with power. She was proud of the look he had.

She motioned for him to continue.

"I wish to return.. to my home world.." He requested, staring directly back at her. Ichigo had told her what he remembered from his past life as well as the feeling of familiarity that the game survivors gave him.

Masa continued looking at him, her face only changing from slight surprise to a look of understanding after a minute of staring. She nodded in acceptance, she would let him return home, but under a certain set of conditions.

Ichigo stood up and waded over to his new mother and did something that he hadn't done in so many years.

He hugged her. Tightly. Which she returned in full as he profusely gave thanks.


	5. The Arrival

_10 years after the death of Kurosaki Masaki and abduction of Kurosaki Ichigo._

Karakura town, an ever-growing city that is always bustling with life and excitement of some kind. Whether it be people going about their day, doing their jobs, or just enjoying themselves. However what most people didn't see were the other residents of the town of Karakura.

You see, this town was a major hot spot for spirits and the spiritually aware. When somebody died they would almost always move on instantly. But there were those who didn't and it was these people who occupied parts of the city. They were more than often too attached to something or someone and would stay around waiting for closure or try find enough peace to move on. A lot of the time they would be found by those who were spiritually aware and would be helped on their way to the afterlife.

It was a strange town, filled with even stranger people.

A black cat lay sleeping on a porch front of a small hidden away shop, called the Urahara Shoten. The cat's steady and relaxed breathing indicated that it was most likely sleeping peacefully in the slowly dimming sunlight.

The noise of a sliding door opening seemed to rouse the feline from its restful slumber.

Raising its head to find the source of the disturbance, it opened its eyes and looked in the door's direction. The cats stunning yellow eyes were made even more vibrant in the orange of the evening's setting sun.

The cat gazed as a young girl of average height and shoulder length black hair walked past with a hard look marred upon her face. The cat watched as the young woman threw a gesture of farewell over her shoulder and called out to someone back inside the shop.

"See you later, Geta-Bōshi-san." She called as she turned down the alley that led back out to the street and eventually her home.

A second person emerged from the building that the girl had just come from, his wooden geta clacking softly against worn wooden floor panels and coming to rest on the small step outside the shops front door, right next to the small black cat.

"How did it go, Kisuke?" Surprisingly it was the cat that had said this, in a deep male voice. The now named Kisuke remained silent for a moment, just staring at the slowly disappearing light of this day's sun, until he finally replied.

"As you can tell, she survived the training!" he said jokingly in a joyful tone. This won him a clawed paw to the top of his leg. "Ouch! Yoruichi-san, that hurt!" He shouted, with a small tear forming in the corner of his eye.

"Be serious! You know as well as I do that _he _would kill us if we let her go, only for her to die the moment she arrives!" The cat called Yoruichi told him, frustration clear in her voice.

"So cruel, Yoruichi-san!" He complained, but then instantly changed to a serious demeanour. "Her rate of growth is phenomenal and she obviously doesn't lack in the Reiryoku department. Her fighting skills, while mediocre, will improve vastly with proper experience. She may very well be able to pull this rescue off."

Finding this an acceptable outcome, Yoruichi nodded.

"What of the others?" The bucket-hat-wearing man asked.

"The two girls have grown strong since the start of their training and seem eager to go. They will be a lot of help when it all starts going down." Was her answer.

"And the Quincy?"

Yoruichi paused for a minute to watch the last rays of sunlight disappear, leaving a quickly darkening night sky.

"I haven't heard much from him, although knowing him and his ridiculous 'pride,' he would have either tried to convince his father to train him, or has gone off somewhere by himself." In an exasperated tone. This caused Kisuke to chuckle slightly.

"Well, you know how prideful that boy is! Very much like his father used to be!" He said in a slightly sing-songish voice. They then both let out a short laugh to help break the tension and were successful.

The two sat there in relative peace, just staring at the slowly growing number of stars visible through the atmosphere, while enjoying each other's company in a comfortable silence. Feeling the air growing tense Yoruichi turned to look at her long time friend.

She did the cat equivalent of raising an eyebrow and gave him a look of questioning, as she stared at his thoughtful expression.

"What's the matter Kisuke? You're looking a little too deep in thought than your usual crazy self." She verbally poked at him. However when he did not respond she began to get a little concerned. It was never good when Urahara Kisuke was deep enough in thought that he would ignore a teasing. There was a tense silence till the green clothed man broke it.

"I feel like that something big is coming." His tone was unusually serious.

_Heavy footstep beating against steel echoed through the wide metallic passageway, a quiet hum from machinery behind multiple layers and walls of that very metal and the sound of moving iron grinding open to reveal a wide and large room. A room with numerous shining grey podiums, each topped with a face of shining silver and grey. A large figure stopped in front of one of these faces. It was blank and featureless, the only thing breaking apart its cold visage was the two blackened and eyeless sockets that glowed a faint red and the savage teeth. But it's teeth were not grown. No. They were carved. Carved into the very face they were being bared by. Then the face was picked up and held in the hands of its rightful owner._

"Well of course something big is coming Kisuke. We're about to send four kids deep into the bastion of the Soul Society, for all we know Aizen could be maki-" Yoruichi tried to reason, but was quickly cut off.

"No. I'm not talking about the soon-to-happen invasion. This is different, I can feel something major coming. Even Benihime is getting on edge and that's making me even more worried about what it might be."

Yoruichi's concerned expression changed to one of slight worry. It was never good when a Zanpakutō spirit starts to get antsy about something as meaningless, to them, as a feeling of unease.

_The striking of metal against metal as the figure moved down another wide corridor. Beings of imposing stature lining both sides, each evenly spaced apart and each armed with a decorated lance that they rhythmically beat against the floor beneath them. A chant. An anthem. A song, meant for the luck of a hunt. The moving figure stopped, but the war song didn't. It stood before two hulking figures, One made of Power and Authority and the other, from Affection and Respect. Slamming gauntlet against pectoral, the figure faced towards Power and the gesture was returned. Then, moving towards Affection, they brought their heads in and connected. The larger sounding off a long purr and the one walking, a guttural hum._

"I hope it's nothing and that you're just overreacting from all the stress of training so hard with the 'Substitute Shinigami'." The yellow-eyed cat said, trying her best to lighten the mood even just a little.

"_Sigh_.. I hope you're right Yoruichi-san" Urahara breathed out. Trying to relieve his feeling of anxiety.

_Walking between Power and Affection the figure moved again. The Lance chant continuing. Grinding metal sounded and a doorway was revealed. A doorway to another already gaping entrance. The rhythm getting stronger and fiercer. Vicious silver face still in the figure's hold. Stepping inside the second opening, figure enclosed in steel from all sides. Turning to face Parent and Power, the figure's image shown. Three lines, scars. Two eyes. dead amber. One colour.. Dreads of Golden Orange. The drop of steel, closing the mouth to the metal pod and slamming shut with the final strike of this predator's anthem._

_A new hunt has begun._

"Ah, Well!" Urahara's normal eccentric attitude coming back to life "No use staying out here getting cold! How 'bout some tea! or warm milk?" He practically shouted, while Yoruichi couldn't help but sweat-drop at the complete One Eighty in his temperament and the horrible segue, but had to admit he had a point, even if it was a bit moot. She followed him as he stood up from his spot on the step and they both went inside with the door sliding shut.

A few minutes later the cat and the shopkeeper where sitting around the low dining table, quietly enjoying their drink of choice, as they enjoyed a comfortable silence. Urahara had been ignoring the horrible sense of foreboding and the unsettled feeling that his Zanpakutō's spirit had been feeling. When the feeling grew considerably stronger the moment he sat down to drink his tea, he had just about asked if Yoruichi was feeling anything like he was, but he saw that she was staring rather intently at something outside from on top of the nearby windowsill.

Yoruichi had indeed felt something. She had been about to enjoy her own saucer of milk like any cat would, when a feeling had tickled at the back of her senses and the hair on the scruff of her neck stood on end. Now this caught her by surprise. Was this the feeling that Kisuke had been talking about? No wonder he had been so deep in thought, it felt exactly as though something big was coming and would affect a lot of lives.

Hopping down from the table soundlessly, she skulked over to the nearby window and with a graceful leap landing of the open frame that was letting a cool breeze flow through the room the two were currently occupying. Her yellow eyes gazing upon the blank and dark canvas of the night sky. She didn't know what she was looking for, or even if she was looking for something, but that feeling had driven her to come to where her small feline body was now. Hearing the clack of Kisuke's sandals come up behind her, she didn't bother turning her head as he would just now be doing the exact same thing.

Neither spoke, they just stared up at the sky, waiting.

When a small flicker of light sparkled in the night's dark canvas, both sets of eyes widened as they watched it grow ever so slightly brighter. It soon became obvious that the object was moving fast, _very_ fast. After a few tense seconds, it's speed was made obvious as it passed over the other end of town, it looked like it was pretty close to breaking the sound barrier. It had soon passed far enough over the town that it was now heading to the woods that lay of the outskirts of that side of Karakura town and had gone out of sight, low enough now for the two gobsmacked viewer's vision to be blocked by the surrounding buildings.

Waiting on bated breath, they sat in silence, seeing if they could hear anything and their wait was rewarded with the arrival of a very distant echo of a boom.

"I, ah.. Believe the source of all our weird feelings has arrived Yoruichi-san!" Urahara light-heartedly spoke with a small, slightly nervous chuckle, as he pulled out a small fan from nowhere and hid his lower face behind it, hiding the slightly nervous grin. He hadn't felt anything coming from the object, so he had ruled out it being anything to do with the spiritual world and it hadn't exploded so the town was fine.

Shaking away her dazed stupor, Yoruichi turned and stared at Kisuke with a blank look. "You know, Kisuke, your laid back attitude towards thing like this will be the end of you. I just hope this isn't your doing and that you haven't created yet _another_ problem." Her tone clearly trying to pin the blame on him for whatever was going on.

"Aww, Yoruichi! You wound me! How could you accuse me of such a thing. I'm not always the one who causes the problems, you know!" He tried to defend himself poorly, in a matter-of-factly manner while snapping the fan shut.

"Nearly all of them are connected to you in some way though, dumbass." she stated. "Any way, I'm going to go see what that was. You just stay here and get to work on getting the kids through to the Soul Society." And with that the small, black cat was gone with a small flicker and Urahara resigned to just sitting back down to finish his tea.

The dark feline was speeding over the rooftops using her Shunpo technique that allowed her to move at ridiculously high speeds towards her destination, which she was now nearing, though, as a cat the specialised movement was restricted a great deal. As she reached the edge of the forest she took a brief moment to find where the thing had landing. Seeing the small rising cloud of dirt and smoke in the distance, she continued off in that direction, hoping to find what it was that had crash landed out here.

Quickly enough she was within viewing range of the unknown object and she was now able to discern that it was definitely large. Stopping on a thick, unbroken branch at the edge of the crater of upturned dirt, Yoruichi observed the massive, metallic-looking object, as it hissed out steam and vapour from holes that looked like they had been melted and spilt open on its sides.

The sound of grinding metal followed by a sharp and loud _snap _echoed through the surrounding area. A small slot had opened up low down on the mysterious object and had a dark red light shining out of it, indicating that it was hollow and lit on the inside. When a large hand poked out from the small gap and gripped the bottom of the, what she guessed was a door, she was thoroughly surprised and a little bit shocked. Neither her, nor the -she didn't think she had to guess if he had tried sensing it- slightly insane Kisuke had felt anything coming from the object. But there was clearly someone, or something in there.

She watched as the hand tried prying the door open further, since it had apparently jammed or broken with the rough landing. With a metal screeching heave the door lifted, yet only a few inches. Had Yoruichi not been trying to keep her presence hidden and was not worried about who or what was in there, she would have found the whole situation rather amusing. However, the hand retracted and nothing happened for a few strained moments. That was before a loud, bellowing shout came from inside the capsule, shattering the silence. The next thing she saw happen was the thick metal door practically explode off its hinges, sending the several hundred pound slab of metal careening towards a tree, which promptly shattered upon impact, followed by several more of equal size, before the rectangular projectile dropped to the ground having lost its momentum.

Golden eyes were practically bulging out of their head. All of the metal around the previously in-place door was now broken, flayed, bent and warped out of place. That door had been straight-up kicked right off the dark metal pod that it was attached to and then went on to plough directly through half a dozen trees, splintering each one. She hadn't seen power like that since her days as a Taichō of the Second Division and even then it was from the stronger Fukutaichō's or possibly a Taichō themselves and that was those who were proficient in Hakuda, that were capable of such things.

Looking back at the new opening in the hull of the object that had seemingly fallen from space, Yoruichi stared as the occupant emerged from within.

The moment her eyes were laid upon the being she was shocked. That armour.. She had seen it before.. But when..?

Her cat eyes widened considerably when the revelation finally hit her. All those years ago, when Isshin's wife, Masaki, had been killed and when his son had been taken away by those people in that ship. This being was wearing the exact same thing! That dark, plated armour, the armament on the shoulder and that mask.. this one's mask was different and the person overall was smaller than the one she saw those ten or eleven years ago, but it was wearing the exact same thing!

She decided that she would go back and tell Kisuke about this as soon as she could and was about to Shunpo away, when the figure's head snapped around and looked directly at her with its eyeless mask. Then right before her own eyes the creature seemed to just crackle away leaving seemingly empty space and a very stunned Yoruichi in its place.

It was her incredible reflexes and feeling a large shift in weight on the branch she was perched on, that allowed her to react to it. But she didn't know how to react to what was happening as she couldn't see anything that was going on. So she decided to just Shunpo away like she had originally planned to do, however the large hand grabbing her by the scruff of her neck had instantly prevented her from escaping as she was picked up and held in a way were she was at the mercy of this _thing_. She could still transform, but Yoruichi would wait until she knew just how much danger she was in before reacting accordingly.

As her captor reappeared, still clutching her scruff, it struck her that it had somehow made itself invisible and that it was emitting no Reiatsu, making her sixth sense, the ability to detect a persons Reiryoku, useless. That is why she didn't react till it was too late. Her other senses also hadn't picked it up right till the last second. It had made no sound when it had came after her. Her eyes were unable to see it despite having rather exceptional eyesight, even at night. The only reason she had reacted at all was because she had felt the branch move beneath her.

As its body was revealed again, her own lithe, feline body was raised up in front of the dark grey mask. She could now see the finer details that it had on it. It had small nicks and chips on the edges, several long and shallow lines etched slightly angular but mostly vertically over the whole of the mask and its most frightening detail were the vicious looking teeth that seemed to be carved into the face of dark steel. These, combined with the black sockets that seemed to glow a dim red, made for a horrifying image to be faced with, made even worse by the size of the person wearing it.

Yoruichi had been calmly staying in its hold, waiting for the being to do something for her to attempt to escape from. But it had yet to want to harm her in the least, aside from the tight grasp around the back of her neck. It seemed to just be staring at her, examining her, like it was taking in every detail about her form. Had she been human at the moment, she may have been inclined to call it perverted since she felt as if it was staring at her exposed body. But she wasn't.

When it seemed to have finished inspecting her, she was surprised again when it pivoted on the balls of its feet and set her down on the branch next to him. Confused as to why she was being let go, her eyes met with the blank holes of the mask that seemed to be staring right back at her. It then spoke.

**"You are different.. From most prey.."** Now that Yoruichi definitely hadn't expected. The now recognisably male person had just spoken her own language! Albeit, rather broken up and sounding very distorted through the mask. But had spoken to her none the less. What did he mean by 'Different' and what did he mean 'Prey'? **"Your body makes energy.. Like mine.."** The male spoke slowly, like it was trying to figure out the correct words to say and in doing so broke up the sentence with short pauses.

'Energy? Could he mean my Reiryoku? If he does, then why is he saying "Like mine", I don't feel anything coming from him?' The black cat thought questioningly, as the male being before her tilted his head slightly, after observing a while longer.

**"Your skull would make pitiful trophy.."**

"WHAT!?" She finally broke her silence, the male voice of her cat form echoing through the forest. What he had said had shocked her to the core, was that why he was here? To kill people for their skulls, to take as trophies?

**"Why do you.. Have male voice.. When your scent and sex.. Is female..?" **He queried in his deep, distorted voice.

She was utterly flabbergasted. How could this person so calmly change subject like that? He had also not reacted to finding out that she could talk at all, not a twitch or a flinch, his body just stood still, silent and uncaring. She was unable to say anything. So much had happened in such a short space of time, she was certain this was a dream and she had fallen asleep on the steps on the Urahara Shoten. But no, it wasn't. It was silent for several moments as Yoruichi put her head back together. However the other branch's occupant had quickly opted for leaving, he was here to hunt and this was only distracting him, he was wasting time trying to converse with this apparently talking animal. So he would leave and find something worthy of his trophy belt.

Watching as he turned to leave, Yoruichi was about to react and stop him. She couldn't allow someone who was here to take 'trophies,' to walk around freely in Karakura. But the moment he spun his head around, time seemed to slow as she watched the mass of long, strawberry-blonde coloured dreadlocks swing around on the visible portion of its head. 'That hair.. Why does it seem so familiar.. Who..'

The image of the day that Masaki had died flooded back into her head. Her lifeless body, the rain, the being covered in the very same armour and a boy. Yoruichi's eyes widened at the memory. The small frail boy, sitting on shaking legs, drenched in the freezing rain and covered in the blood of his mother. The lifeless look on his face and in his eyes and the confession of love to his now long dead parent. The boy, the son and the brother, who was known by all to have the same coloured mess of orange hair atop his young head.

"Ichigo.." She whispered out. During her train of thought she had failed to notice that he had already began his trek towards the large town. He was still within earshot however.

"Wait! Ichigo!" That caught his attention. He had frozen in mid step and was now slowly turning around to look back at the small cat that had called to him.

**"That name.. It sounds.. Familiar to me.."** His entire body facing her now. As she had quickly caught up to him and was now standing, still in cat form, in front of the tall orange-haired man, who she was sure was her friend's eldest child, the one that had been abducted by some unknown being, so many years ago.

**"Was.. That my name when.. I lived here.. I don't remember.. Anything.."** His gravelly voice was full of confusion, like his mind was trying to figure something out. Yoruichi had noticed that he had said "When I lived here." Now she was almost certain that this person was Ichigo. She had to get him to do one more thing and it would prove that it was really him.

"Can you take off your mask? I want to see your face and see if you are who I think you are." There was a awkward second of silence, until his hands moved up to the cables attached to the back edges of his dark metal mask.

With a few short hisses the wiry tubes came loose and hung limp down his back. His two large hands came up and claimed either side of the mask and with a tug, it pulled free of his face and was lowered and held by his side, in his left hand.

"Am I.. Who you think I am..?" The bright haired boy asked.

Had Yoruichi been a more openly 'emotional' person, not saying she didn't have emotions, but if she had been, she most likely would be crying her eyes out seeing as the small, happy child she once new, almost considering the little tyke something of a nephew, was now back. But he was no longer that same child. She couldn't make out any real details on him in this almost pitch black environment. She had figured out instantly that he had grown an incredible amount. She had recognised the shape of his face. Those sharp, almost chiselled-looking angular features were so similar and reminiscent of those of the small distraught child that sat behind his captor. This was definitely him, but he was so different from what she remembered from the few times she had seen him with his parents. What happened for him to change so much? Why did he sound so emotionless? And act so savage?

"Yes.. I'm sure you're Ichigo." Her expression was a mix between somber and relieved. Relieved that he was alive and was home safe. But somber because of how the time away had changed him and the cheery attitude he once had, how his life had been torn away from him and how she knew that almost everyone had forgotten about him.

"How do you know who I am..?" He asked. His tone was still as deep and emotionless as before.

"I-I was there when you were taken. And I'm a friend of your father's.." She didn't know how he would react to that, whether or not he would resent her for not trying to save him.

"My.. Father?" Apparently he didn't hate her, at least that was a relief. But he also apparently really meant it when he said he didn't remember anything and this seemed to include his own family, it was sad, but it was understandable, he had been away for more than half his life, it was frankly a miracle he could still talk as well as he did.

"Yes. I'm sure he, along with your sisters will be shocked and astounded that you are alive." She told him. There was no change in his mood whatsoever he only moved his arm up to look at the mask in his hand.

Ichigo was unsure of what to do. He had come here to hunt, to kill and to collect. He didn't expect there to be someone here you used to know him. The thought that he would ever hear about his family again, it hadn't even passed through his mind, until she had brought it up. He had a new family now and a new mother, the new clan cared for him and he cared for them in return. More than half his life had been spent with them, hunting and surviving, and that wouldn't change. He would finish this hunt and come out alive, with trophies worthy and grand enough to be put on display. Though he had always felt out of place, being of another species, he had also slowly grown bored of his fights with the Yautja. He had long since surpassed all of them, including Masa and the clan elder in power and they couldn't be more proud of him and how much he had grown. He now craved to test his mettle against someone as strong as him and had hoped that in coming back here, he would find someone like him.

"Did you want to reunited with them?" Now that had gotten his attention. He could be with and see his real family again? Perhaps someone from his family was like him? It made sense. It would at least be a starting point.

"Yes." His answer was simple. And that was all it needed to be. He stared at the black cat for a moment then turned around and re-donned his mask. Not waiting for her instruction he began his venture towards his home town.

Yoruichi stared at his back as he walked away from her. Maybe it would be best for him to stay at the Shoten initially. Instead of sending him straight to their front door. That way Urahara could inform Isshin of his son's sudden reappearance, so he would be properly prepared to see his missing son after ten years. They would also have to prepare Ichigo for the reunion of father and son. Which would include getting him clothes that would make him stick out less. Kisuke should be able to sort that out and they would also sort out any other preparations that would be needed when they get back to said man's shop.

She had started a short run to catch up to Ichigo and was now by his side as they made their way out of the woods. This only took a few short minutes at a brisk walking pace and soon they were at the edge of the large town.

"Can you keep out of sight while we make our way through Karakura town? You would draw unwanted attention if you walked down the street or were seen dressed like that." Yoruichi asked offhandedly.

Without a word Ichigo activated his Active Camouflage and began to make his way into the town. He only had a vague idea of which direction he was going in, as he had gotten a reading on the power the small animal put out and began tracing it through his Bio-Masks visor. It was like a heat or scent trail, in that there were dim lines of it spread all across the town, as well as seemed to be a central point of concentration to it all across the other side of the city. However when he saw the creature that somehow knew him, a couple of buildings across, looking around in all directions trying to find him he decided to he would just follow it instead of going off on his own.

Yoruichi had lost Ichigo the moment he had turned invisible, like he had earlier. She had let slip from her mind the fact that she could not feel any of his power or hear any of his footsteps, she cursed under her breath but ran in the general direction in which he was heading at the time. She stopped on top of a small building to look around and try find him. When she felt something hard knock against her side, she immediately flinched and leapt away as force of habit and self preservation from her time as the Commander of the Onmitsukidō.

Looking around, she strained her eyes to see what had hit her, it wasn't until she noticed the deformation of the light from the nearby street lamps that she had actually managed to see that there was somebody right next to her and realised that it was Ichigo, but was currently completely transparent. Yoruichi gave him a wary glance before they continued off in the direction of the shop frequents, with her taking the lead.

It wasn't long before the small black cat found herself in the small, empty lot outside of the Urahara Shoten. She was unsurprised to find the storeowner himself standing on the front porch, waiting for her to return, having probably felt her Reiatsu fluctuating.

"Ah! Yoruichi, you're back! I take it all went well then?" Kisuke asked her.

"You could say that, Kisuke. I found out what was causing that feeling of ours and we were right to feel as such." Answered Yoruichi, her tone seemed undecided. It was somewhere between being joyful and sad.

"Oh? Do tell, Yoruichi-san!" His curiosity evident in his somewhat cheerful tone of voice.

She faltered for a second, unsure whether or not Ichigo had actually managed to follow her fast movements as she leapt from building to building. She took a quick look around, but was unable to see him. She had to admit that strange camouflage system he had was incredible, far above anything that existed in the World of the Living and the Soul Society.

"Hey! If you're still nearby, come out." Her male voice echoing through the nearby alleyways.

"Uh, Yoruichi-san, Who are you-" But was cut off as a crackle of electricity was heard next to the very cat he was about to question.

When the figure was fully revealed Kisuke was frozen in place and Yoruichi just took a step to the side after seeing that he was only a few inches away from her. Seriously, that camouflage is a terrifyingly efficient thing. Had they had access to gear like that in the Onmitsukidō, it would've made life so much easier, but then it would be too easy. Looking back at the silent shopkeeper, she noticed that his eyes were wide with surprise. Had she looked that shocked when she had first seen Ichigo?

"That armour.. From all those years ago.. When Masaki and Ichigo.." His dumbfounded mutterings stopped as he remembered what that figure he had encountered those few short years ago (Short to him anyway.) and he reached for the blade hidden in his cane expecting to be attacked like last time.

Ichigo had watched this mysterious man, "Kisuke" she had called him and he had called the cat "Yoruichi." He had watched him silently as they talked. Then when they had stopped the black cat had looked around and then called out to him, asking him if he was still there and to show himself. Had he been inclined to just simply kill these two he could have and without the other know what he had done. But the female cat with the male voice had told him that she would take him to his original family, though he was sure this man was not his family, so he would restrain himself from tearing the spine and skulls from their bodies.

Doing as the animal had asked he turned off his Active Camouflage to show this strange man. "Kisuke" had just stood there for a moment not saying anything but unintelligible murmurs. When he grabbed onto the stick he was holding, Ichigo noticed it seemed to also be producing power like he, the cat and nearly anything that move in this place did, he was instantly on guard.

Yoruichi froze when Kisuke reached for his Zanpakutō, she had failed to remember that the only time he had seen someone in that armour, just like her, was when they had been shot at by the strange shoulder-mounted energy weapon. She then heard a distorted growl and looked to her left to see Ichigo, legs bent at the knee's and his body ready. Coming out to the arm guards he wore, were two pairs of brutally-jagged, razor-sharp blades, each extending out above his hand probably eight inches.

Cursing herself to not seeing this happening she quickly decided to disarm the coming explosion of violence.

"Kisuke, Stop! Don't be a fool!" She shouted, hoping the verbal jab would get a reaction.

He did stop. Though was unsure why she would ask him to stop, he was sure that he wouldn't be in any danger seeing as he was an ex-Taichō.

Still en garde he sheathed his partially withdrawn blade, but remained ready to defend himself. "Ah, Yoruichi, why am I stopping exactly?"

Breathing a sigh in relief that her friend had at least put away his blade, she looked over to Ichigo, who was still in the same position and was looking extremely tense.

"Easy there, big guy." She said in attempt to placate Ichigo. "He's not going to attack you and I can guarantee that he won't, I just need to you take your mask off again." They all remained silent for a few seconds. But when he retracted his Wrist-Blades, Yoruichi breathed another sigh of relief and for a second time watched as he pulled the tubes from out of the side of his mask.

Still standing anxiously, Kisuke watched as the new arrival slowly, almost painfully so, removed his mask. His previous gobsmacked expression quickly returned to his face as he finally saw the revealed face of the stranger in dark armour.

"Is that..?" He was almost unable to speak. That face was so familiar, it was so similar to Isshin and Masaki's. And that bright, almost completely orange hair was so much like..

"Yes, Kisuke." Yoruichi started with a small smirk on her cat face. "Kurosaki Ichigo has returned."


	6. A Cold Reunion

"Now this was not what I was expecting to happen." The Geta wearing shopkeeper said, as he stared at his friend's missing son.

How was he here? It's been ten years, why is he back now? In fact, how is he alive? It was only about three years after he had gone missing when Isshin, Yoruichi and himself had all reluctantly come to the agreement that he was more than likely dead and would never come back or be seen again. But now he was here, the young boy was back. Well he could hardly be called a boy any more he was easily twice his own size. He was sported in that armour that the person that had abducted him wore and furthermore, he appeared to be armed to the teeth in weaponry as well. It was hard to tell with the only light source around coming from inside the house.

Unasked and unanswered questions kept flooding into his mind and for once he seemed to be at a loss for words.

"I think we should go inside. We will contact your father tomorrow morning, Ichigo" Yoruichi told him. "In the meantime, I think the both of us would like to ask you some questions, if that's fine?" Seeing no response, she looked at him and then at Kisuke, she realised that they were still staring each other down. Ichigo had relaxed significantly, yet it was still ready for any form hostile movement towards him. While Kisuke was appeared to be trying to figure many things out in his head.

"Come on, let's go." When her first step was taking Ichigo had immediately done as told and began following right after. 'At least he listens, unlike his sister.' She thought jokingly, as she pondered how both he and his sister would react to each other. No doubt Yuzu would start balling her eyes out, but would Karin react the same way? And what about Ichigo himself?

Ceasing her train of thought they made their way into and through the shop, with Kisuke now in the lead, having recovered from the initial shock. As they walked quietly through the building they soon found themselves in a well lit living room.

Urahara took a seat on one of the cushions that were placed around the low table, Yoruichi taking her place on top of the table and Ichigo looked around the room with anything that looked similar to a proper seat and spotted a large wooden chair that was placed in a corner. Picking the thing up with like a feather, he put it in front of the small table and sat facing the other two with his arms resting on his knees and his Bio-Mask still in his hands.

There was a long silence as the two tried to figure out what to say or ask him first. It was Yoruichi that broke the silence first.

"Where have you been Ichigo?" It was a simple question that needed to be asked.

"I never knew where.. I only knew.. that we were always moving.." His deep, rumbling, broken up way of speaking had slightly improved without having his mask and they could now understand him a lot more clearly. Yoruichi noticed this, however she was unsure why. She hadn't noticed it from early in the night when they had talked, as she was still to shocked at his sudden, but interesting way of arriving home.

"Ah, right. Now when you say 'we', are you talking about the people who kidnapped you?" Kisuke asked this time, the image from when Ichigo had been taken from his family still burned into his mind.

"Yes.. But I was saved.. not kidnapped.." His lifeless tone, along with the absent look of impassiveness caused their moods to fall slightly, they had easily figured out that it had been a hollow that had killed Masaki right before Ichigo had been taken away. When they heard this answer, the two had instantly realised that he would be as good as dead right now if it weren't for the mysterious stranger and that they were the only reason he was here right now.

He had failed his promise to his mother and they had failed to protect him from the things he didn't know about yet. Urahara cursed himself, he should have spoken up when he had sensed Masaki's Reiatsu fluctuate.

"Who were they?" Urahara asked.

"Yautja." Ichigo's answer was straight-forward and to the point.

"Yah-oot-cha?" Ichigo raised an eyebrow in amusement, as he listened to Kisuke trying to sound his clan's race name out. He had done the same thing and butchered the name just as much as the other man was doing now, but he had gotten it eventually. Though it was impossible for a human to actually correctly pronounce the word, due to the Yautja dialect containing clicks and grunts that the human vocal cords were incapable of producing.

"And what have you been doing all this time with the, 'Yautja', as you called them?" Yoruichi was sure she already knew the answer to this question.

"Hunt." Yeah, she was right and she didn't like it. No child should have to grow up like that, killing and hunting to live. More than often, it would be detrimental to their psyche and turn them into some kind of psychopathic mess. But luckily, or maybe unluckily, it hadn't effected him that way, instead his time away and the death of his most loved, seemed to have destroyed him emotionally. Not in a way that he didn't have emotions any more. He just didn't react to anything, the biggest reaction he had done, in the short amount of time that he's returned to earth, was when she had told him he could meet his family again, he had been a trance of curious reminiscence, at least that's what she thought.

"And, pray tell, what it was that you were hunting Kurosaki-san?" Kisuke couldn't help but let his inner scientist show and be effected by his excitable curiosity. The possibility of finding about some unknown creature was too much for him to bear.

"Kuro..saki..?" Ichigo questioned. Kisuke looked confused for a second and looked to the black cat sitting on the table.

Feeling Kisuke's eyes staring at the back of her head, she decided to answer his unasked question. "He said that he doesn't remember anything from his time here when I found him. That included his name." She told Kisuke, who understandingly nodded. "That's your family's name, Ichigo." She told him in a remorse filled voice. She still felt horrible that almost everyone had forgotten him and now he, apparently, had also forgotten 'him'.

Ichigo remained silent, he could hardly call them his family anymore, he had a new one anyway and had been given a new title. Though he knew that the name he had been given at birth, by his mother, would always be his and that that would never change.

Deciding to show them, rather than tell him, he reached over his shoulder grabbed for something.

The two other occupants watched him warily as he reached to grab something on his back. There was an audible _click_ and then something pulled free from behind him. With a clatter, Ichigo had thrown a loop of creamy white coloured objects onto the table right in between Yoruichi and Kisuke.

"Oh? Now what are these Kurosaki-san?" Kisuke asked, his curiosity from early still evident, as he prodded the bone looking objects.

"You asked me what I hunted.. Those are trophies.. from my hunts." He answered Kisuke.

"And by trophies you mean...?" Kisuke said with a quizzical look plastered on his face underneath the white and green striped bucket hat of his.

"The skull of a worthy prey." Ichigo told them with no change in his demeanour, with the answer causing Kisuke and the Cat's eyes to widen, but both for different reasons. Kisuke, because he had never seen any animal that would have a head that looked anything similar to the skulls that he was now holding, his morbid curiosity having got the better of him. He had to admit, just looking at the young man in front of him his cold, dispassionate eyes gave him the shivers a little, but he wanted to find out more about him and the technology he had been given, as well as the other unknown life forms that were apparently out there and undiscovered by mankind. Call it a need to satiate his everlasting want for information. Or he was just going crazy. He hoped it was the former.

Yoruichi however, was on a different track with her thoughts. She had remembered what he had said when they had first met in the forest outside of town and how her head would be "pitiful" for a trophy. The statement in of itself was extremely unsettling, as she knew that had she not gone and found him this night, there would be reports from all over the city of people finding bloody scenes of carnage and gore and all of the victims with their heads removed and nowhere to be found. It horrified her that Ichigo, the small, happy-go-lucky boy, was now capable of and had been planning to behead an unknown amount of 'prey' with no remorse.

She mourned for the loss of the child she would consider a nephew of sorts. And she hated that he turned out like this and that they didn't save him from being taken away from his home and being thrown into a life of violence at such a young age. So she promised to herself that she would at least try to bring some semblance of his former self back, not for her or Kisuke, but for his father and sisters. That is, if there was anything to bring back.

"Very interesting trophies you have there, Kurosaki-san!" He said after placing the trophy belt back down of the table, and sliding it back to him, his scientist's curiosity having been sufficiently nourished. When they saw Ichigo drop to one knee with his head bowed and a closed fist pressed against the ground, they both gave him a questioning look.

"What are you doing Ichigo?" Yoruichi asked the orange dreaded boy.

"To have one's elder acknowledge your trophies.. is one of the greatest honours.. a hunter can receive.." He answered with a voice that was far less emotionless than before and seemed to be filled with, pride? Well at least there was something underneath that uncaring mask of emotion.

Yoruichi rolled her eyes as she watched Urahara open his fan again to hide the wide smile that was forming on his face. Great.. Just what the shopkeeper needed.. Another ego boost.

"Oh! Think nothing of it Kurosaki-kun!" His voice slightly higher in a slightly sing-song way. "But now I'm curious again. What _would _be the greatest honour you could receive?" He eagerly awaited the answer, while Yoruichi was seething at how he was milking the praise he had gotten from Ichigo.

"Dammit Kisuke, could you be-" She started.

"To be chosen by a female to mate.." That made her stop what she was about to say, as a small predatory grin crept onto her face and Urahara's wide smile turned into a cheeky grin from behind his white fan.

"Chosen to mate? So the men don't get a choice who they are partnered with?" Yoruichi asked her curiosity now getting the better of her.

"Yes.. There are far more male Yautja than female.. They are praised and are treated with respect.. because they bear the offspring.. and keep the Yautja alive.. so there is no greater honour.. than being chosen to mate.." His tone still very stoic, but it seemed to have some kind of happiness or fondness to it. However after hearing this, Yoruichi's feline smile grew an incredible amount. She was starting to like how these 'Yautja' do things and how the women are to be treated, they should've implemented something similar to that in the Seireitei laws. There were considerably more Shinigami men in the Soul Society than there were women, someone like Rangiku or even Suì-Fēng would be having a field day should the government, Central 46, bring in a rule like that.

"Does this apply to human women as well?" Urahara asked, practically reading his long-time friend's mind. 'Though rather frightening at first, _but still very handsome_, he would be a killer with the women should they catch on to this attitude. _I just hope Yoruichi doesn't start abusing this power_.' They both thought, but with their own comments, respectively.

"It is dishonourable to hunt women.. and younglings.. and the sick as well.. So, since I am human.. I will treat them like I would Mother Masa.." This surprised them a little and their expressions became far more solemn at the realisation of what the title implied. He had found a new mother figure, after his had been killed. They were unsure if the name was by pure coincidence or if he just called her that subconsciously. They both had figured that the Yautja spoke a language of their own and that would mean that their names would be considerably different to that of the Japanese. So it was more likely that he had given her that name, than it being her actual name. Whether he did it to remember his real mother or if he did it on accident was a mystery that they did not want to find out, out of respect to Ichigo and his mother's name.

Nevertheless, Yoruichi couldn't help but smirk when she heard that he would treat human women with the same amount of respect that he would a Yautja woman. Kami only knew what devilish things she was conjuring up in that mind of hers to put that chivalrous sense of honour to the test.

"Ahh, I see." Urahara acknowledged. Ichigo just nodded back.

They sat in silence for a while, two watched as Ichigo unconsciously caressed a thin scar that was present on his face, along with two others that were parallel with the one he was touching.

Now that they had finished this round of questions directed at the tall boy, they had finally taken their time to actually _look _at him. His build was incredibly well formed and maintained, his muscles, while not very visible under all of the dark, protective body armour, were definitely large and appeared to be made for physical strength and endurance over speed and agility. He was also very tall, being several inches above Kisuke, who was already fairly tall himself and this only seemed to add even more to the presence of power that Ichigo already radiated.

Also, riddling the exposed segments of well tanned skin, along with the ones on his face, were a multitude of scars, made discernible by their darker colour. Through the search of his form for more scarring Urahara looked to Ichigo's left hand, that was still running against the small line of darkened skin, he didn't know how he missed it before, he was missing a digit!

"Uhh, Ichigo." The strawberry-blonde turned his cold eyes towards Urahara. "What happened to your hand?" Bringing his hand away from his face he looked at it, his face not showing any care for the missing finger.

"I lost it during my.. Rite of Passage.. It's what I get.. for burying my hand.. in the head of a Serpent.. with acidic blood.." That was his answer and it seemed to unnerve the two other people present in the room, that he would talk so casual about mutilated body parts and punching a fist _into_ the head of something he was hunting.

What kind of creature had acidic blood? It seemed to go against nature to have acid in your body, that isn't from the stomach, but to have it for blood no less. Urahara had so many questions to ask him to find out about his time that he spent away from his home, but he withheld them out of respect for the boy's own privacy. Though Ichigo was hardly a boy anymore, just by looking at the scar tissue covering his unconcealed skin he had been able to tell that he had been through more than most anybody will ever in their short human lives. Hell, he was fairly certain he may have gone though more than most Shinigami, sans the Taichōs or Fukutaichōs.

"I wish to bathe.. K-Kisooke-s-san." He told the older man. He was obviously not used to pronouncing Japanese names, made obvious of his attempt to say 'Kisuke'. The man chuckled lightly at this, it may help to get him to talk more by asking him more questions, at least to aid in improving his speech.

"Oh! Not a problem, Ichigo-san!" He said using the teens first name. "It is right through that door and at the end of the hallway." Pointing to the door he was talking about, with his closed fan.

Ichigo just stood and proceeded to exit through the door, grabbing his Bio-Mask on his way. The only sound being the floor creaking beneath his feet as he walked out and away towards the bathroom.

They waited and when they heard the barely audible thump of a door closing, both Yoruichi and Urahara let out a loud breath that they weren't aware that they were holding. There was a poof of smoke from where the black cat had been seated and as it began to clear a figure was slowly uncovered. A dark skinned, purple haired woman of immaculate beauty was in the place of the small shadowy feline from before. This was Yoruichi in her human form and completely bare to all around her.

Yoruichi sighed a sad sigh and looked over at Urahara who was probably on a similar train of thought.

"Kisuke.. How is his father going to react to this?" She asked him her voice unsure and a bit nervous.

"We won't know until we tell him and he sees for himself.. Though I will warn him about the changes ahead of time and _before_ they meet." His voice was serious and pensive. Yoruichi nodded to this and silently agreed, it will be a emotionally tough experience for their friend Isshin. They had not expected Ichigo to be like this when he returned. In fact, they had not expected him to return at all!

Letting out another sigh, this time a lot less downtrodden, Yoruichi stood and strode towards the door that Ichigo had gone through a few moments ago.

"Uhhh Yoruichi, where might you be going?" Kisuke asked with a small almost unnoticeable grin forming on his face.

"I'm going to see if he's really not that shy little kid he was all those years ago." Her mouth forming into a very mischievous grin.

"I knew you were a cradle robber Yoruichi-san!" This comment got him a kick to the face as she walked past him on her way out. "Just remember to be safe!" Was heard shouted from the room she had just left.

She ignored his incessant rambling and carried on her way towards the room that Ichigo was now in. Not bothering to knock she entered to see Ichigo already partially de-clothed and the room already filled with steam.

slyly, she closed the short distance across the room and walked up behind him and wrapped a slender arm around his waist, pressing her naked chest against his back, to which he immediately tensed. His next action caught her off guard however. She felt his large hand grip onto her forearm and pull. She came with it, going under his arm as she was pulled to his front, once there both of her forearms were seized and she was then hoisted into the air by a single hand. She felt the breath knocked out of her as her back was slamming into the wall behind her.

With arms pinned above her head against the wall she was being held a foot off the ground, body exposed to Ichigo, who was only standing half an arm's length away from her. They stayed that way for a few moments, just staring at each other's face. Ichigo's head was cocked to the side a little and Yoruichi seemed to just have the same perverted expression on her face as she gazed over his exposed upper half. His arms were like steel cables wrapped in skin and then strung out taut, then covered in a multitude of scars and lines. His chest was like sculpted marble, every muscle defined and chiselled to perfection and made even more pronounced with each and every line and imperfection on it. Only making it look that much better. Yoruichi just couldn't help but feel a rise in temperature spread throughout her body at the view she had been given.

Ichigo watched silently and uncaring as this dark skinned woman before him stared at his physique and he could see admiration in her eyes. Not wishing to upset the woman for not doing the same for her, he lifted her up further against the wall. With his free hand he brought it up to her neck and grasped either side of her jaw between his thumb and forefinger.

"What you doing there, Ichigo-kun?" She drawled in a sultry manner, her expression while still rather perverse, was now riddled with an intense sense of interest. Her call to him was ignored calmly in favour of continuing what he was presently doing.

Turning her head gently to the side, he admired the curves and lines of the muscles and tendons in her neck and shoulders. Removing his hand from her jaw line he let her head go, instead, moving it to the top of her sternum, where he pressed the spread hand flat against it and held it there for a couple of seconds, his eyes closed and not a sound was made as he listened and felt the beating of the heart inside her chest. It's rhythm was steady and strong, if slightly more elevated than one's normal pace.

Opening his eyes again, he began to run his hand down the centre of her body. It passed through the soft and bountiful canyon that lay between the woman's breast, with care and gentility. He heard her breath hitch in her throat but opted to continue. Her soft mounds changing form ever so slightly as his hand passed between them. His hand finally reached the woman's lower abdomen, each finger lifting and falling to each of her well toned, but subtle, muscles. His hand finally came to a stop just above where her womb would be, he held it there for another second or two, feeling the heat coming from her body, then brought it away. Much to Yoruichi's disappointment, though she knew as to why she felt that way and why she wanted him to continue.

When Ichigo leaned forward and brought his head to the centre of her stomach, she couldn't help but arch an eye brow at the sound of a slow intake of air coming from his nose. He was.. Smelling her? That confused her a bit. As he drew back his head from her, he slowly eased her body onto the ground. Letting go as her feet made contact. He took one last look at her before turning around and headed towards the pile of dark armour next to the bath he had filled. He missed Yoruichi nearly falling over as her legs demanded her to crumble.

'Now that was _not_ what I expected to happen.' She thought to herself and she tried to reclaim her breath that had been taken from her somehow. She could get used to that if that was how he was going to treat her.

"You have a strong.. and beautiful form.." He voiced, while it barely held any emotion, she could tell it was a lot more appreciative that it was when he was talking to them earlier. "You are.. the cat from earlier.. aren't you..? You have its scent.." So that's what he was doing.

"Y-yeah, that was me." Her breathes were more even, but still a bit ragged, she also felt her pride swell a bit at his complements and an unnoticeable rush of blood to her cheeks.

She looked up from her lowered gaze to look at the boy who had basically felt her up, she didn't mind that he did though, she had enjoyed it thoroughly. When her gaze met his form, her eyes widened at the changes he had made to his attire in the short time that she had been looking away from him.

Ichigo was standing their completely exposed and not a shred of clothing on him, aside from the metal wrist brace on his left arm and a few metallic tubes that connected his wrist to something that ran along his spine. He stood there bare naked, his limp anatomy in full view for Yoruichi to see. But none of this appeared to faze him in the least as he stood next to the small pool of steaming water.

"Well you sure aren't shy about your body, are you Ichigo-kun?" Her sultry demeanour returning in full as she swapped between looking at his face and his hanging manhood.

He turned his head to her and raised a brow slightly.

"I haven't bathed.. when you came in.. you interrupted.. I assume you want to join.. since you are dressed the same.." His voice not wavering at the prospect of bathing with a woman, in fact he did not look like he cared that she was essentially ogling his parts. This just served to fuel the ever increasing smirk of face-splitting proportions.

'Oh, I could _definitely_ get used to this.'

* * *

_Morning, the following day._

Kurosaki Isshin had just woken up after a long night of restful sleep. His daughter Karin had returned home last night, much to her twin sister's relief. She hadn't told them that she was going anywhere, she had just not been at home one morning and hadn't shown up until ten days later, saying that her friend had invited her on an impromptu trip for school and that she didn't have enough time to tell them that she was going with them. Yuzu, Karin's twin sister, was hesitant and unsure as to whether she was telling the truth about the 'trip'.

But when their father had come running to his black-haired daughter, proclaiming that she had spent her time away 'getting busy' with a secret boyfriend. He had gotten a foot to the face and been berated for suggesting stupid and perverted things like that in front of Yuzu. The brown-haired daughter had just shook her head at the two's interactions and accepted Karin's excuse in favour of questioning it. She was just glad that her sister was back home safe.

Isshin knew this wasn't true and that she had just made the excuse up, not wanting to tell her secret to her remaining family, that she was a Shinigami. Isshin knew of her secret though. He had known that the small raven-haired girl that had been a resident with them for a few months on a 'student exchange program' was the Shinigami that had given his daughter her powers. And so when she had disappeared for those ten days he had known where she was. She was training with his long time friend Urahara Kisuke, to get those powers back after having them destroyed.

So it was now that the three family members were sitting around the kitchen table eating their morning meals. That had been lovingly made by Yuzu since she had taken to being the new mother figure of the house after the real one had been killed and the eldest child of the house had gone missing. Just before they started their own respective days of work. Isshin's being running the family clinic and Karin and Yuzu's being school.

When a ringing interrupted the silence, all attention was brought to the source. In seeing that it was Isshin's cellphone going off, the twins returned back to the food they were eating, passing it off as someone from the nearby hospital or someone wanting to make an appointment.

"Moshi-moshi. Kurosaki Clinic." The Kurosaki patriarch answered.

"Isshin, it's Kisuke." This instantly got the man's attention. Outwardly he showed no reaction so that his two daughters wouldn't get suspicious. Kisuke very rarely called him, despite the last time he had called him being those ten days ago, calling to inform him of what he was planning on helping to awaken Karin's own Shinigami powers.

"Let me just go to my office quickly." He said in a calm voice. Before stand and thanking his daughter for breakfast.

He had gone to his clinic office and closed the door so Karin or Yuzu wouldn't overhear them talking if they walked past.

"What's happened, Kisuke, Is it something to do with Karin?" His voice was stern, serious and questioning.

"No, no, it's got nothing to do Karin or her training. Something else has turned up." Isshin could almost see the shopkeeper shaking his head as he responded.

"Then what is it? You don't call just to say hello." He was starting to get agitated that Kisuke had yet to tell him the reason for calling and he couldn't think of any reason that he would call him, that wasn't about Karin. So why had he called? What could possibly 'turn up' that would require him to call.

"_Sigh_.. There's no real subtle way to put this, so I'll just tell you straight up.. Isshin your son, Ichigo, has returned."

There was absolute silence as Isshin sat in his office chair, mouth agape and eyes wide and threatening to spill out of his head. His son? No. Surely he had misheard him. His son had gone been abducted by some massive being a decade ago and had been missing since then, he couldn't be back. Clearly confused about the situation, the Kurosaki father was about to voice his bewilderment.

"Kisuke, did-" He was cut off before he could continue.

"You did not mishear me Isshin and you know that I do not lie and that I wouldn't joke about something like this. Yoruichi found your son last night and he is currently staying here at the Urahara Shoten with us."

More silence. Isshin couldn't believe what he was hearing. His son was back. After such a long time of being away he was back.

"You can come and see him now if wish, but you should do so alone, your sisters can meet him after school." Isshin was barely able to contain himself from sprinting there right this very instant. His body was twitching with anticipation.

"Alright, I'll be over when Yuzu and Karin leave for school." Isshin told his friend and was about to hang up when Kisuke spoke again.

"And Isshin.. I think it's about time you told them.. Karin was rather persistent on finding out what I meant when I told her that we were going to be awakening her _own_ Shinigami powers. I honestly didn't expect her to catch on to that." He told the man at the other end of the phone call. Isshin gave a chuckle to the hint of amusement in Kisuke's proclamation of Karin trying to figure out what he had meant by her 'own'.

"Yeah, she's a lot more perceptive that she lets on. _Sigh.._ I guess you are right and now would be as good time as ever." The black-haired man agreed.

And with that they said their goodbyes and ended the call. Isshin sat quietly at his desk, rehashing what he had been told. Leaning against his desk with his fingers interlocked and placed under his chin, he gazed at the small picture on his desk. It was the last picture they had taken as a whole family, two days before Ichigo had been taken and before Masaki had been killed, on his sons ninth birthday. It was a happy picture. Just them huddled around the family couch, Ichigo, Karin and Yuzu all around their mother and Isshin himself standing behind them with a goofy look on his face. He sighed at the long and almost forgotten memories.

Hearing his daughters call out to him, saying that they were heading off to school, he shook from his pleasant reverie and stood to close up his clinic for the day.

Soon enough this had been done and he was now exiting his locked abode, dressed in a black Shihakushō, with a tattered white Haori slung over his left shoulder and his Zanpakutō tied to his hip. With a flicker of movement, he had disappeared from his place at the front door of the Kurosaki house and was now heading at breakneck speeds towards the Urahara Shoten.

* * *

_A minute few minutes later_

Flashing into existence, Isshin had finally arrived at the innocuous looking shop belonging to his friend of many years. He saw the man sitting quietly on the front porch of his shop with his legs crossed and a cup of tea in his hand. Walking at a quick, but hesitant pace towards Urahara, the restless father came to a stop just a few short feet in front of him.

"Where is he, Kisuke?" His voice was calm, with the slightest hint of eagerness.

"He is inside, in the dining room. Most likely talking with Yoruichi." Kisuke told him.

"Arigatō, Kisuke." As he was about to venture into the shop he was stopped when Urahara stuck his arm and fan in front of his path. Looking down at his friend, Isshin saw the serious look on the other man's face.

"I have to inform you of a few things before you meet your son. Just as a warning ahead of time." The man's serious demeanour returning.

"Warn me of things? What do you mean?" The spiky haired man asked, clearly disconcerted by this.

"Your son has lived a completely different life than he would if had still been here.. He's lived as a hunter and has had to kill to survive with the people he lived with.. And it has affected him, his emotions are almost non-existent and he also remembers almost nothing from his time here.. Including you and your daughters."

Isshin was staring at Urahara with an aghast expression. He had expected that Ichigo would've changed and matured with age and maybe forgotten some things about his time with his family. But he hadn't thought that his abduction would be this detrimental to the boy's life. And what did Kisuke mean by living as a hunter? Clenching a fist in frustration that his own son had been taken from his family and forced into a different life, Isshin continued his way into the shop, only turning to regard the dark green cloaked man through gritted teeth.

"Thanks for the heads up." Not waiting for a reply, he slid open the door and made his way inside.

He made his way through the deceptively large building till he came to the door that led to the dining room. Pausing as he put his hand against the door, he heard the faint murmuring of people talking in the next room. Taking a deep breath, he opened the door and was greeted with an extremely peculiar sight. Yoruichi in her human form -fully clothed, thankfully- was currently pinning another, significantly larger body beneath her. He could see the long flowing mop of orange that spread out on the floor, around the persons head and instantly recognised it.

"Yoruichi-san. Would you mind getting off my son. I wish to see him." He said in a deadpanned voice.

Looking up and behind her from her crouching position on top of Ichigo, she saw the man that had just entered the room. Glancing back at Ichigo, then back to Isshin, she gave a cheeky grin then stood up from her place above Ichigo and the son followed right after.

Finally standing at full height Ichigo looked at the shorter, black-haired man. And the man stared right back. They stood like that for a few moments, both towering a good foot in height over Yoruichi, who was slowly making her way out of the room to give them their own privacy. When she had finally made it out the door, she closed it shut with a soft clack.

Brown and amber stared into each other. Neither making any movement, but both silently assessing each other. Isshin was admittedly intimidated by the man his son had become, being over six feet made the man taller than most everyone he knew, meaning he was always looking down at people to communicate with them. But this young man, his son Ichigo, was a good three or four inches taller than himself, giving the younger male a very imposing stature, only made more impressive by the layers of dense muscle that was clearly defined through his son's dark clothing.

"So you.. are my father?" The strawberry's tone was dull and held no real amount of life to it, which cause Isshin to recoil slightly. He silently thanked Kisuke for the warning.

"Yeah, I am, Ichigo. Do you remember my name?" He asked to see if Kisuke had also been right about him not remembering anything about him or his family.

"No, I don't.." Ichigo answered, watching as his father deflated a little.

"My name is Isshin, Ichigo.. Me and your sisters have missed you dearly since you disappeared." His mouth contorting to a small smile. His son was back. He could basically see Yuzu and Karin crying out in joy the moment they meet him, but they would get to that later. Right now, he had a son to catch up with and he couldn't be more anxious.


	7. When Father Meets Son

"My sisters." Eyes narrowed as his mind tried to recall a memory of them. Ichigo hadn't been able to remember them for a while now, he had forgotten whether he had one sister or two. He couldn't figure out if he'd had sisters or brothers, or one of both. This had only bothered him through the first few years of his time with the Yautja, it was only a short couple of years ago that he had completely let their existence slip from his mind. So when this man, his father, had mentioned them to him, Ichigo had tried to uncovered the non-existent memory from the confines of his head.

Finding nothing he gave up and looked at the father before him. Though after spending more time with Dark Knife and Mother Masa in a state of conscious thought, unlike his infant years, he would consider them to be his parents, before he would this human.

"I don't.. remember them.." Informed Ichigo, his eyes having returned to the usual empty gaze. Isshin sighed, it would take a long time to get his son back to the way he was before he was taken, or at least close to what he used to be like. His son would most definitely _not _be the same cheerful child ever again and that saddened the older man. He and his sisters would never see the child that they had grown up with, the one they loved, looked up to and adored so dearly, it will be devastating to his two youngest and only hoped he could get some compassion out of the, so far, completely emotionless void that was his son's face.

"I see. That's fine, you will meet them later today, when they finish their day of school." Isshin could already tell that this was going to be an incredibly long day and probably an even longer night when Yuzu and Karin arrive to meet their long lost brother again and to explain his current situation as an ex-Shinigami Taichō. Breathing out sigh as he came to another realisation. He would probably have to tell his kids about what their mother's true nature was also.

Looking at his son's scarred face, he could see the savage, battle-ready hunter hidden behind those eyes, just ready to pounce and drive a knife through your jugular, no doubt Kisuke and Yoruichi had seen it as well. He had changed so much and felt so different from who he used to be and made him uneasy and borderline frightened of what his truest nature would turn out to be like. He could also not feel anything coming from his son. Not the slightest bit of Reiatsu could be felt from the young man, but he was sure that he had not lost it all. His son had amassed a fair amount of Reiryoku in the short years he had been with them, he was at least on par with a unseated Shinigami from one of the divisions of the Gotei 13, and he was only nine!

His son had been doing karate for around four years before he was taken and that had helped feed and nurture his ever-growing power to what had most likely been the thing that caused the hollow to attack Ichigo and Masaki. But now, ten years later and looking like he had fought everyday just to continue living, the growth potential he possessed was absolutely, horrifyingly large, much like his sister's. Isshin feared the results of what living the life his eldest child had been through and what it would've done to his Reiryoku and how much it would've increased with his growth. He had the strange feeling that he would find out soon enough.

"Do you remember what happened that day, Ichigo?" The two of them had finally decided to stop standing in the middle of the room and sat down at the waist high table, each on the opposite side if the table and facing towards each other. This question had made Ichigo look off to the side in brief thought, until he looked back at his father again.

"I only remember.. first mother's bodiless head.. staring at me from the ground.." He said, his face displaying no change in his emotions. His eyes had been altered though, pure hatred could be seen deep within the golden brown irises. "And the white-faced beast that killed her.." Isshin could hear the rising levels of anger in his voice and could understand why. If he guessed right, he would say that Ichigo had watched Masaki being killed by the now confirmed hollow and it was the memory of the Hollow that made the orange-haired teens anger rise, Isshin could also feel his own emotions doing the same. No child should _ever _have to witness something like that, it was really a miracle that Ichigo was still sane from experiencing such a terrible thing.

He would almost have to thank the people that took him. If he had stayed at home he probably would've just sat, curled up in a ball, in his room, never leaving, which only would've made the whole thing worse. What his captors had done, whether it was intentional or not, was give Ichigo an outlet, a way to vent his mind crippling emotions, instead of bottling them up and eventually bursting, which may have caused someone to get hurt, more than likely his only friend at the time, Tatsuki, or even more possibly, his sisters Karin and Yuzu.

Silently he thanked these people for allowing him that at least and letting him live and raising Ichigo when he couldn't. If he ever met them, he made a note to express his gratitude to them.

"It is dead now.. so it doesn't matter.." Ichigo told his father. To which the man exhaled a sad breath and nodded reluctantly. 'At least he isn't brooding over her death.' The spiky-haired man thought.

"So.." Isshin started, wanting to get off such a depression subject, as a small smile coming to his lips. "Mind telling me what Yoruichi was doing on top of you when I walked in?"

"We bathed together last night-" Isshin nearly choked. "-She said that I got her.. 'flustered' and 'hot and bothered'.. She wanted revenge.. so she pinned me to the ground.. then you walked in.." His voice not giving away any sign of caring that he had told his father that he had been in a bath, naked, with a different gender.

The man though, was far too busy containing his laughter. His son had managed to get Yoruichi, the known Queen of Tease and Flash Goddess, to be embarrassed! Oh, that is too good! A victorious smirk stretched onto his face. His son wasn't a prude. Like he thought the small mother's boy he used be, was going to grow up as.

He knew it was rather inappropriate to be thinking about this kind of stuff after he hadn't been seen for ten years, but he couldn't help but notice that his son would be an incredible ladies man if he had the right demeanour for it and didn't carry an aura of 'I could kill and I couldn't care less if I did' that he radiated.

"She has more strength.. than I thought.. More than Mother Masa.." Ichigo's eyes wandered to the door Yoruichi had just left through very briefly, then back to his father whose own had widened a fair bit at his son mentioning the name Mother Masa.

So he had found a replacement after he saw his own die? Isshin gave off a silent sigh of understanding. He wasn't even that shocked or surprised that Ichigo had found another mother figure, he was just grateful that they, the people he's been living with, had given his eldest child something else that he needed.

"Yeah, Yoruichi will surprise you like that, she may be small, but she's a _lot_ stronger than she appears.. So what is she like? Or rather, what are they all like?" Isshin commented then questioned, wanting to learn more about what the people who had taken care of him for over half his life.

"They are strong.. and very honourable.. And Mother Masa.. she is kind and caring.. I learnt much from them.. and her.." His gaze softened for the briefest of seconds, had Isshin blinked he would have missed it. It looked like whoever Masa was, Ichigo was extremely fond of her. That was a good sign, it appeared he hadn't lost all the threads of his humanity, like Isshin thought he might have.

"They aren't human, are they?" The Kurosaki patriarch asked. He had been suspected that they weren't from the very first moment he saw that being, with his son, in that ship. He had just never really bothered to confirm it, he was certain it was fairly obvious. I mean, they had a spaceship! And the weapon the being had fired was unlike anything in the modern world, or the Soul Society. It was like it was straight out of a science fiction movie or something.

"No.." Ichigo said, looking his father in the eyes as he did.

"Then who, or what, took you?" He spoke, returning the stare equally. His voice was serious, but anxious also.

Ichigo just stared at his father for a short few seconds, before pulling up the long sleeve on the tight-fitted, black shirt he had been given to wear, revealing the metal Wrist-Computer on his left arm. Flipping it open Ichigo touched a few controls on it and with a few loud beeps a dark red glow was starting to emanate from it, slowly forming a hovering image right above the electronic contraption on top of his wrist.

"Yautja." Ichigo said, his voice definitely softening, as the floating image finally finished forming. Isshin's eyes only grew wider at seeing it.

"Oh, Kisuke would want to see this." He said, looking at his son who had fondness and pride in his eyes.

* * *

After leaving, Yoruichi had gone to lay out in the sun on the front porch of the Shoten, while Kisuke just waited, still sitting on the step that he had been on when Isshin had arrived. They had briefly conversed about what they thought would happen and they had pretty much came to the same conclusion, saying that there would be almost no emotions being thrown around or expressed. And from the lack of ruckus coming from the room they knew it was the right guess.

However, after several minutes, Ururu, Kisuke's shy store helper, had come out and told them that 'Kurosaki-san says there is something you have to see.' in a very timid fashion. Urahara thanked the girl and she disappeared back into the shop. The dark-skinned woman and the blonde store-owner looked to each other, wondering what it was that Isshin deems so interesting that he wants them to come and see.

So now they stood around the dining table all staring at the floating image that was being projected by Ichigo's Wrist-Computer.

"You were certainly right Isshin-san, I most definitely did want to see this!" Urahara exclaimed in a tone full of wonder. The three adults staring slightly wide-eyed at static moment in time being shown before their eyes.

It was almost picturesque. Like the scene had been staged, they knew better though, the expressions and emotions shown were far too extreme and realistic to be even considered fake.

There were two people in the glowing red picture being shown. One was most definitely Ichigo, though Isshin noticed that in the image his hair was done up in dreadlocks instead of loose and straight down his back, he was also sporting a wide, leather and pelt loin cloth, covering both his rear and front. And a wide diamond pattern mesh top on his upper half. But the other being was definitely _not _human, it was however, very humanoid due to its body shape, but that is where the similarities ended.

Comparing it to Ichigo, It looked around nine feet tall and towered over the young man. Its build was heavily muscled and meant for power, very similar to Ichigo's except much larger and probably less versatile. The being wore the same style loin cloth around its waist, covering its anatomy and on the upper half it was decorated in many necklaces and pendants, covering nearly all of its broad chest. The face and head was the most striking thing though. It had a large forehead, that was surrounded and outlined by numerous amounts of solid-looking dreads that grew right out of its skull. The eyes and sockets were sunken inwards and it appeared to have no nose. The mouth was the thing that got them intrigued the most, it had two sets of long mandibles, one on either side of its mouth each tipped with a long, fang-like tooth, contained within these were a set of jaws, armed with razor-sharp teeth that looked capable of rending flesh from bone.

With both of the people in the picture brought together it formed an image that looked both vicious and powerful at the same time. Both were engaged in combat with each other. Each with their mouths open wide and staring directly into each other's eyes in a standoffish-like way. Ichigo, being the smaller of the two, was attached to the Yautja via one foot positioned just below its clavicle and the other just above its midriff, along with a hand gripping a cluster of the necklace's straps and the other reared back in a fist getting ready to strike.

The Yautja, being the one still on the ground, was standing, slightly lent backwards, trying to support the extra weight it had taken on. Its mandibles were flared wide open and the long, hair-like dreads were flailing around its head. Using its right hand to grip Ichigo's arm that had a hold of the pendants the Yautja wore, it kept the boy in place. But with its other arm it was driving a pair of long Wrist-Blades straight through Ichigo's gut and out his back, narrowly missing his spine. Ichigo, from the picture, seemed to have no reaction, if anything it looked as though his screaming visage looked joyful that he had been run through.

A silent agreement was made at that moment but the three adults in the room. It was to never let Kurosaki Ichigo and Zaraki Kenpachi meet, lest the risk witnessing one of the bloodiest fights in history to happen between two people.

Little did they know, that that agreement and their attempts to prevent this union would mean nothing very soon.

They all gave a one last once over of the floating image and noticed the enlarged gland-like shapes on the chest of the Yautja. In nearly the same place, and looking very similar, as to where the breasts of a human woman would be. Deducing this and the physical similarities they shared with humans, all three guessed that it was most likely a female, meaning that the Yautja in the glowing red picture was more than likely Masa, the woman who had been his mother for the past years.

"That's rather impressive, Ichigo-kun! May I ask what else that thing does?" Urahara praised and asked as Ichigo turned the projection off. The strawberry blonde looked at the older man then down at his Wrist-Computer. After a couple of seconds he replied.

"It hides the energy.. my body makes.. and stops it from disrupting hunts.. and hurting my clan brothers.." He paused to watch them look between each other in worry and to see Urahara's curious stare go back to him. "It's connected to the.. modified.. ship battery.. that's attached to my back.. which powers my gear.. and the two.. take the my power from the air.. and push it back into my body.." They all stared with disbelieving eyes and he just looked back with no emotion. Were they not doing the same thing? He had scanned the blonde titled Urahara and the woman named Yoruichi with his mask. They exuded the same power, but seemed to be able to draw it into their body with no external aid. He had almost no doubt that his father could do it as well. So why did they look like they did not believe him? Or was it something else?

"Ahh, Ichigo.. Do you know how much of your power you are putting back into your body?" His father asked hesitantly.

"None is being put back in.. right now.. But I can put.. nearly all of it.. before it starts to.. damage my body.." He told him, his uncaring eyes staring into shocked ones.

"And what happens when you force the power back into your body, Ichigo-kun?" Kisuke said, his morbid curiosity showing as well as a lot of concern.

"I get stronger.. and faster.. I haven't been able.. to get more in.. because my clan.. were too weak.. and I couldn't train.." Ichigo answered.

"Have you suffered any injuries from training like this?" Yoruichi asked this time.

Ichigo paused for a moment looking at and mentally going over the multitude of scars that he had collected during his sparring sessions with Mother Masa and the male Yautjas.

"I have broken.. almost every bone in my body.. My skin has ripped.. off my flesh.. and my muscles torn.. off their bones.." They all unwillingly flinched and their eyes widened substantially.

How was Ichigo alive after so much pain and suffering? Was what ran through all of their heads. How could he go through all of that and want to keep going? What drove the nineteen year old man to endure such torture? Not even the Onmitsukidō trained their recruits that hard and the worst you saw coming out of the Eleventh Division was usually a concussion from being thrown into or through a wall. That, or more than often, a large gash somewhere on the body from somebody's Zanpakutō. But this, what Ichigo had described himself going through, was a whole other level of brutality.

"H-how could you do something to yourself like that Ichigo!?" Isshin really didn't want to yell at his son, who he had only found was alive a few hours ago, but it was getting harder and harder for him to contain his growing worry and frustration that was directed towards his son. "Did you not think of the damage you were doing to yourself?!" At this point, Isshin was currently standing in his spot with a frustrated expression on his face, his hand had unconsciously moved to rest on top of his Zanpakutō, which had not gone unnoticed by Ichigo.

Under the table Ichigo had extending out his Wrist-Blades of his left bracer that held the Computer. Yoruichi, having been seated right next to him and to his left, had heard the subtle _Shink _of metal sliding against metal with her sensitive ear. She looked down to see the two elongated razors protruding out of his gauntlet and she was instantly alerted to what was going on when she saw him just staring at his dad with the cold, absent look he had when she first met him. Realising where Ichigo's father's hand was, she recognised the signs of someone ready to protect themselves if attacked and knowing the kind of person Ichigo was so far and his emotional detachment from his -real- family, it was a safe bet that he would have no problem with driving the points of his blades into Isshin's chest.

"Isshin! Sit down and calm yourself!" The man was shocked by this aggressive proclamation from the normally cheerful and easy-going Yoruichi. "And watch where your hand is placed! You're very close to having your son drive a pair of blades through your lung!" This time both Kisuke and Isshin looked shocked, though when the shopkeeper remembered the Wrist-Blades Ichigo was armed with, from last night, he immediately realised what was going on under the table, where Ichigo's left hand was hidden.

The Kurosaki father's mouth was wide open at the warning the neko-woman had given him. He looked at her for a moment, then at his son, who he had noticed had become tensed and fight-ready, even in a sitting position and then down at his left hand which was now gripping onto his Zanpakutō, Engetsu's, dark-red hilt and his son was taking this as a form of aggression and willingness to fight.

Snapping out of his concerned fury, he released his hand off the hilt as if it were infested by the plague and then sat back down on his displaced chair, muttering his apologies.

"It's not me who you should be apologising to Isshin." She told the boy's father.

"Ahh, right.. Sorry about that.. Son" His father looked to Ichigo, who had eased up noticeably. The young man nodded back tersely and another _Shink _was heard as the wrist-mounted daggers retracted back into their casing.

Yoruichi was right. His father was extremely close to having two, eight inch Wrist-Blades sunken into his chest right up to the knuckles of the hand that wielded them. But Ichigo would not have tried killing him, he would've merely maimed the older man, since this man was his real father and not the surrogates, Dark Knife or Elder. But had the man drawn his blade he would have no problem with stabbing his own blood relative.

"My, my, this is getting rather heated, is it not, Yoruichi-san?" Kisuke said, trying to break the stagnant silence that had came over the small group. To which the neko-woman gave him a dirty look.

"Can it, Kisuke. Don't you have _work_ to be doing right now?" She pointed out.

"Ah, of course! Tessai will be needing my help about now!" Kisuke announced and stood to leave, when he got to the door he turned on his heel sharply and faced the eldest Kurosaki's direction. "Remember to call your daughters in a couple of hours Isshin-san! And be sure you are ready to tell them.. Everything." He finished, his voice switching to a serious tone mid sentence. Isshin's face became contorted in brief worry for how they were going to react to the secrets he and Masaki had been keeping from their daughters and son. He sent back a tense nod and Kisuke returned it.

"Alright then! You three enjoy yourself!" He more-or-less shouted. Switching his gaze to Yoruichi, who looked back at him with a questioning glance. Urahara gave a sly smile. "Just not _too_ much, okay, Yoruichi-san?"


	8. Onii-chan (Part 1)

The three that were left in the room stayed there for the next few hours, Isshin and Yoruichi asking him questions about his time with the Yautja and what he had been doing and things that they were curious about. Ichigo had answered what he could and told them what he remembered. Though it was almost always very vague or extremely straight forward with no explanation.

He had slowly started to pick up talking in Japanese, to Japanese people without the Bio-mask as a form of aid or translator. His cold disposition never wavered though and it was starting to worry his father. Would he show no care towards them; his sisters, like Ichigo did to him? Something like that would destroy his precious girls. To finally see their brother after not seeing him since they were five years old. That day had almost torn apart the remainder of their happy family. Yuzu had instantly started bawling her eyes out and had been an emotional wreck for a week straight. And Karin was the exact same, she had cried just as much as Yuzu, but after that week had passed they both did different things to ease the pain. Yuzu buried herself in house work, taking over the position of woman of the house by doing all the cooking and cleaning. And Karin had taken to training with Ichigo's only friend at the time, Tatsuki.

Tatsuki hadn't been as distraught as the two younger girls, but she was horrified nonetheless when she had found out what happened from her parents who had been told by Ichigo's father. She liked the 'orange-haired cry-baby'. They would always practise and spar in karate whenever he was there, just helping each other getting strong. But he was gone now and a small void opened up in her heart at the loss of her sparring partner. So, when she had come over to comfort the twins she had almost been dog-piled in a mound of tears and sniffing. She had stayed with them for a few days after that, this is what led to Karin asking to train with her and to help her get strong like her 'Ichi-nii' had been doing to help protect his younger siblings.

So when their father had remembered telling the twins what had happened. That their mother, the light of their life and the centre of their world had been killed and that Ichigo, the person they looked up to with so much love and awe, had gone 'missing', he had almost panicked about his son being too different, or indifferent towards them and their emotions, that they would be in tears for all the wrong reasons.

Be that as it may, Yoruichi had almost ensured the black-haired man that he would have nothing to worry about. At Isshin's confusion, Yoruichi retold Ichigo's tale about honour and how women have to be treated. Backing this up by retelling the experience the two of them had had within the confines of the washroom last night. And much to the older man's chagrin he accepted that he may have overreacted a little bit. But soon had a noticeable smirk on his face at being told the story of how his son had basically gotten to, in his own words, 'second base', with Yoruichi already.

Ichigo remained stoic and uncaring to the conversation going on between Yoruichi and his father Isshin.

Soon enough, the end of school came and the moment Isshin was starting to dread had finally come. He had to call Karin and get her to come to the Urahara Shoten, along with Yuzu as well.

* * *

Teenagers of different heights, weights and sizes were all bustling out of the front gate on their way home from the day's lessons at Karakura High School.

One girl stood at the gates of the high school waiting patiently with a school bag thrown over her shoulder and a sports bag at her feet. Her foot was rhythmically tapping the ground below it. She was of average height, a very athletic build, similar to that of a martial artist. Her black hair was short and just above shoulder length and her face was currently scrunched into a small frown. Her name was Kurosaki Karin and she stood there undisturbed, as every student that walked past gave her a wide berth. This was because of the reputation of her over-protective and often times violently protective nature, directed at her twin sister Kurosaki Yuzu, who she was now waiting to arrive, so that they could make their own way home together.

When Karin spotted a head of light-brown hair heading her way from within the crowd of people, she instantly recognised it. She waited until her twin came into view before picking up her bags and moving to meet with her slightly shorter and much kinder half. When they reached each other Karin gave Yuzu a quick nod and Yuzu smiled back.

"You ready to go?" Asked Karin. She wanted to make sure that her sister hadn't forgotten anything important before they left, like homework or a book.

"Yep! I've got everything I need! Now let's head back, I need to start dinner before Tou-san finishes work." Yuzu chirped happily to her darker-haired sister, who just shrugged and began her walk back home with her sister.

"Who cares about Goat-chin? He can starve for all I care. It would serve him right for attacking me when I got home yesterday." Karin told her sister. Who just put on an upset pout.

"That's not nice, Karin-chan! He was worried about you! And you were the one who kicked first." Yuzu scalded. Her sister though, just shrugged again and muttered a 'what-can-you-do' as they continued on their way out of the school grounds. When a ringing was heard from Karin's pocket, they paused and Karin dropped her sport bag back onto the ground, digging into her pocket she found the ringing mobile and pulled it out. Reading the caller I.D. she saw that it was the very person they had just been talking about, that was calling.

"Yeah, what do you want Goat-chin?" She answered back, her voice slightly annoyed. This call greeting got her a light smack on the arm from her smaller sibling.

"Karin, Is Yuzu with you?" Their father answered, ignoring the name-calling. Which made the black-haired girl raise a brow. Normally he would be feigning hurt and complain that his daughter treated him horribly. Remembering that she had been asked a question she quickly glanced back to her waiting sister, then answered.

"Yeah, she's here. We were just coming home when you called. Why, is there something you need us to get or do?" Taking initiative and answering properly when she realised that he wasn't acting the fool like he usually does.

"No. I just need you two to come to the Urahara Shoten, instead of going straight home." The moment he had finished speaking those words Karin had frozen in place, her whole body stiffened as she recapped what she had just been told to do.

"Karin-chan, what's wrong?" Yuzu asked worriedly after seeing her sister stiffen up like a board.

"D-dad.. W-what.. H-how do you know..?" Karin stuttered out, still clearly dazed that her father had asked her to meet him _there_. Before she could get another word out, Isshin spoke up again.

"I will tell you when you get here, Karin. But for now, just tell Yuzu that you're both meeting up with me here." He told her, his voice still unusually serious. In reply she just nodded dumbly and stuttered out an "Okay." And the call was ended. Putting the phone back in her pocket, Karin lent down and picked up the bag she had put down and started their walk again. Yuzu just gave a perplexed look at her sister's pale face.

"What was that about, Karin-chan?" She asked her sister, who was strangely silent as they walked.

"We, uh.. Goat-chin told me that we have to go meet him somewhere." Karin stammered out. Her voice shaking with nervousness slightly.

"Oh? Okay then! Do you know where we are going?" Yuzu asked. She got a silent nod. Deciding not to push any further, Yuzu chose to just follow seeing as it didn't look like she would be told where they were going any time soon.

Karin meanwhile, was running through her mind at a million miles an hour. Why did he want us to go there? How did he know about it? Did he know Urahara-san? Why was being so serious? Why does he want Yuzu there as well?

When she heard a strong, feminine voice in her head telling her to calm down, she stopped her speeding thought process in favour of not upsetting her Zanpakutō spirit and then inwardly apologised to her quickly.

They continued in relative silence for the rest of the way there. It took them about thirty minutes to walk to the area in which the Urahara Shoten was located. Yuzu had a confused look when they had reached the district, as she didn't think that there would be anything here that would be relevant to or have to do with her Tou-san and his medical work. Karin though, just kept walking on and leading her sister through the slowly emptying streets. At a sudden turn into an alleyway that Yuzu hadn't noticed until now, she began to get worried and more confused. What was their dad doing down a place like this? Maybe Karin had gotten lost in thought and turned down the alley on accident?

"Uh, Karin-chan? Are you sure we are going the right way? I'm sure Tou-san would be worried if he found out that we were going into dark alleys like this." The worry in Yuzu's voice becoming obvious as it broke the silence that had fallen between them, her slight panic was also not lost on Karin at all.

"It's okay, Yuzu, we are going the right way, the place is just up here.." Karin's still nervous voice spoke, as she gestured with an arm to the sunny part of the path they were walking down. Yuzu noticed that it seemed to open up into a lot of land and she sighed in relief, this place was starting to scare her a little with all the dark corners and possible hiding spots, she moved slightly closer to her stronger twin to help ease her anxiety of being attacked by some mysterious stranger.

Soon enough they got to the end of the alley and Yuzu saw that it did indeed open up into a big section of property. When the two turned the corner, they both saw the small, two-storied shop and the figures outside of it, who were standing under the big sign above their heads that said 'Urahara Shoten'. While Yuzu was confused and still slightly afraid of where they had turned, Karin was all too familiar with this place, so she was not worried, since it had been the place where she had just spent the last ten days training with the rather eccentric shopkeeper, who she found out was also a Shinigami right at the beginning of the intensive training sessions with him. Though she was still very anxious and nervous about why their father had asked them to meet them _here_, of all the places.

A chiding in the back of her mind was telling her to calm down, saying that she would find out soon enough. She complied to what her soul partner was telling her to do and let things run their course, relenting to the fact that getting worked up would only complicate matters and make things worse.

Walking at a brisk pace to the Shoten the twins were now able to make out the three figures standing out the front of the shop. The first, a scruffy-looking blonde, with the green and white-striped bucket hat atop his head and a dark green, almost black, haori over his shoulders and arms. The man, who Karin knew as Urahara Kisuke, was steadily waving a white fan in front of his face as he watched the pair make their way to the shop.

The second just appeared to be a small black cat, its long, slender tail twitching back and forth every now and then, as it also watched them approaching.

But when they saw who the third person was, the two girls both had completely different reactions. Yuzu, at seeing her father, let a smile come back onto her face. She was beginning to get worried that he would not be here and that Karin had come to the wrong place, she also gained a puzzled expression when she was what he was currently garbed in. Karin though, she had seen what he was wearing from the moment she laid her eyes upon him, along with the katana that was leaning against the wall of the Shoten behind her parent. Her mind had started up again, though this time her Zanpakutō spirit did nothing to stop her from doing so.

'Dad is a Shinigami!? What is going on?! Wait.. Is this what Urahara meant by awakening my _own_ Shinigami powers? Because I'm part Shinigami or something?' She practically screamed in her head. Her sword was now just trying to get her to calm down a little, saying that her inner world was turning to hell from the turmoil her mind was experiencing.

Then their father spoke up.

"Ahh! My darling daughters! You've finally arrived, I take it you had no trouble getting here?" He shouted, his voice filled with much exuberance. Yuzu shot him a happy smile and wave and giving their father a nod in confirmation.

"Yep! Karin-chan knew the way, so we had no problems." She told the man. "Umm, Tou-san, who is your friend?" Yuzu then asked as she glanced at the man who was currently still fanning himself. With a quick snap he closed said fan shut and took a step forward.

"Oh my! How rude of me to not introduce myself!" The hat wearing man spoke up. "I'm Urahara Kisuke, the owner of this quaint and humble little shop!" He announced with a cheerful smile, while waving his fan at the shop behind him.

"It's nice to meet you, Urahara-san! I'm Kurosaki Yuzu." Yuzu said with a polite bow.

"Well mannered _and _beautiful, you're growing up to be just like your mother was Yuzu-chan, Is she not Isshin-san?" He asked her father with a kind smile on his face. To which the man responding with a confirming shake of the head and an 'Mmmhmm'. Isshin had instantly picked up on what his long time friend was doing the moment he brought up his daughters' mother; he was easing them into the pool of truth one toe at a time instead of just dumping them in the deep end, by bringing up the fact that they knew each other like it was general conversation. Kisuke truly was a genius. And judging by how Karin was just standing there, mouth agape and having not said a thing, it was working.. To a certain degree.

He could see that she was still surprised and confused about the fact that he was standing here before her, dressed as a Shinigami. Her mind was probably spinning from the sudden turn of events and she was more than likely waiting for him to explain what was going on.

Yuzu couldn't help but blush at the comment she had received and the comparison between her and their late mother. Then the realisation that he knew their mother dawned on her.

"You knew Kaa-chan?" She asked questioningly. Her voice, while still happy and kind, now held a certain sadness that was barely noticeable, yet it was still there.

"Indeed I did. I used to be good friends with your mother and your father in fact." The man stated in a matter-of-factly way, with a fond smile on his face.

"Oh, it's nice to know that Tou-san has at least one friend that isn't from the hospital!" Yuzu told Urahara with a smile. Isshin almost fell on the spot at that moment, he looked at his brown-haired daughter with fake tears in his eyes and feigning hurt.

"Oh, Yuzu, how can you be so cruel to your own papa?" Isshin cried out in mock sadness. Yuzu and Kisuke just laughed at his antics and waited for him to calm.

When the man stopped he looked over his two present children and saw the contrast in emotions. Yuzu while her usual happy self still had a feeling of uncertainty around her, most likely from being in such an unfamiliar place. Her sister however, had yet to say anything and do anything, other than stand there, mouth wide open, staring directly at him. The man then sighed at this and decided to bring her into the conversation and try to lighten the mood.

"You've been awfully quite, Karin." Her father told her. This shook the black-haired girl out of her shocked detachment from reality. Staring at her father, she gave the man and unsure look, hundreds of questions still floating around in her mind. Even though she had so much to ask she could barely even stutter out a proper word, without it sounding like a spastic mess.

"D-dad... W-why... Hh-how... W-when...?" She voice out dumbly, silently cursing her current inability to form a proper sentence. Yuzu stared at her with a weird look on her face, to her it was like she had grown a second head or was a completely different person. She had never seen her sister getting this worked up, or act this differently before.

Sighing for a second time her looked at his daughter and spoke again.

"I know you have a lot of questions right now, Karin and I will answer all of them as best I can. But right now, there is something, or rather, someone that I have to show you and your sister." This got Yuzu's attention to be focused back on him and Karin just stayed standing where she was, content with what she had been told, but now, another couple of questions had popped in her, as well as Yuzu's mind. Who was he talking about? The daughter with the light brown-hair decided to voice her question.

"Who is it, Tou-san?" She asked curiously. To which the man smiled and turned to his friend Kisuke, who was now hiding behind his fan with an wide smile clearly on his face, though he tell that there was still a look of hesitance in the visage. Then he looked at Yoruichi, still calmly sitting there in cat form, a devious smile still on her face. He was not sure that he wanted to know what was going through her head at that moment. Isshin then turned his head to the door and called out to somebody inside.

"Hey, you can come out, they're here now!" The man shouted. There was silence, not a peep of noise was heard, yet the two men and the small cat standing in front of the shop had yet to question this, like Karin and Yuzu were close to doing. But when a shadow formed on the other side of the doorway into the Shoten they ceased that idea and watched as the door opened almost painfully slowly.

When the door finally their eyes widened at the imposing figure that had emerged from inside the shop.

A very tall man, easily a foot above both of them and several inches above the men, stood there looking back at them. His body covered in dense muscle that was clearly defined beneath the tight fitting, long-sleeved, black shirt and blue jeans. The long, strawberry-blonde hair reaching past his shoulders seemed familiar to Karin, as did the handsome angular face and chiselled features. Why did this man remind her so much of somebody? Did she know him? She was sure she did, but who?

"Who are-" Karin cut herself off when she heard a loud sniffle and a whimper of somebody crying right next to her. Turning, she saw her sister, Yuzu, was the source of the sadness. Tears were pouring down her face and but they were not tears of sadness like Karin had thought they were and had remembered from many years in the past. No. These were tears of joy and happiness.

'Wha..' Was all that Karin could think. It was when her sister screamed and took off running towards the man that it finally hit her.

"ONII-CHAN!" The girl cried as she ran at the man who had just come out of the shop. She was so happy, her head was swarming with joyous emotions and relief. Her big brother, her Onii-chan, her Ichi-nii was back! She knew that he wasn't dead! She knew that he would come back to them eventually and she was right! He was here! Her brother was alive!

The adults around Ichigo were smiling as they watched the younger girl run towards her long lost brother.

_SHINK_.

'Oh god, No!' Yoruichi screamed in her mind. Her ears picked up the sound that she had come to associate with Ichigo. Time slowed down as her head snapped around to look up at Ichigo. The boy was pulling back his left arm, the two blades from his wrist protruding from out of the sleeve of the shirt they had given him, his face and body had switched to an alert and ready stance.

He's going to kill his sister!

Acting quickly, as Yuzu was now only a few feet away from clashing with fist fronted by two blades of steel, she dove behind Ichigo, transforming back to her human self mid leap and the air filled with a pink smoke. Yuzu still kept running, completely unaware of the sheer amount of danger that she was now in since she had tears spilling out of her eyes, still screaming out for her brother, leaving her blind to what was going on right before her.

There was a horrifyingly, agonising silence, only the sound steel piercing flesh rang through the air as Ichigo and Yuzu collided and disappeared behind the smoke from Yoruichi's sudden transformation.

.

.

.


	9. Onii-chan (Part 2)

A Pained whimper echoed through the small space of property, as the cloud of pink smoke slowly cleared from around Ichigo and Yuzu. Everyone had been so shocked and panicked by everything that was going on, that they had lost track of what had actually transpired to get to this point. The cry had gone from a whimper and was now a heavy sobbing that sounded very muffled and shaken.

"Onii-chan.. _Sniff_.. Why..?" Yuzu's voice was weak and filled with horrible sadness. The people around the cloud were still extremely startled by the events that had just happened. The two older men standing either side of where Ichigo was standing and where Yuzu had ran to, were wide eyed, Kisuke because Yoruichi had been forced into action and needed to transform, however he did not see the reason why she had to. Isshin on the other hand, being on Ichigo's left, had seen the exposed blades at the last moment when he had turned after feeling the cat's Reiatsu spike in panic.

'Kami, please tell me my son didn't do it..' Isshin's thoughts were as such. His mind was so distraught at that moment, he didn't know what to think. He knew his son had become ruthless and practically emotionless, but how could he do something like this? What could've driven him to act like this? His daughter's sad, muffled whispers wrenched his heart in ways that he thought not possible.

A slight breeze slowly, almost painfully so, revealed the scene that hid behind the light red smog and when a steadily growing puddle of deep crimson was exposed on the ground, Isshin's mind started to panic.

'Please.. No..' His head was reeling back in horror. It was blood staining the dirt beneath their feet, but who's?

"Why did *_sniff* _you leave us, Onii-chan?" Yuzu muttered softly.

The smoke finally cleared and the three people within were finally shown. Yuzu had her body stuck onto Ichigo's front, her arms wrapped around his midsection and the top of her head barely coming up to his collar. On her face, tears were leaking freely out of her still closed eyelids and her expression was both content with staying where she currently was, uncaring to the happenings around her, but it was also held sadness. A sadness spawned by the feeling of abandonment and loss.

Ichigo and Yoruichi were however, in a completely different situation at the moment. Both of them were shaking in a struggle to overpower each other. Isshin being the only one who could clearly see what was going on due to his position, stared gaping at the scene.

In the last moments of Ichigo's arm thrust aimed towards his own sister, Yoruichi had managed to divert it and the result of this action ended in Isshin's son driving the blades into the left side of his lower back, however since the blades were long enough, he was more than capable of continuing through his body and into his crying sister. This is where the dark-skinned beauty had come into play again.

She had realised that he was not stopping with his strike and so she had been forced to intervene further.

Wrapping both her arms around his elbows, she pulled back, making sure that he could not follow through with the attack with his Wrist-Blades on his left arm and also disenabling him to be able to use his right arm as well. He was over-powering her though, she knew his size was obviously not for show, but she had not expected something like this. Her feet slid along the ground for a brief moment of time, before they were brought up from the wet and reddened dirt. As she did this, she drove her knee's into his lower back so that she could pull against his arms and push against his body, instead trying to find traction on the loose soil below them.

When her knee's slammed into Ichigo's back, it felt like she had connected with solid rock, instead of flesh and so she winced briefly having not been prepared for it. Ignoring the pain, Yoruichi leaned up to get close enough to him so he could hear her, but not be overheard by Yuzu who was still quietly sobbing into her brother's shirt.

The whole situation would have looked absolutely ridiculous and they would've been told this, if not for the severity of the whole scenario.

"Ichigo, stop! She's just trying to hug you! You are not in danger!" She ground out in a strained, but quiet whisper. Feeling that he was not relenting in his attempts to kill his sister, she bit her lip in uncertainty and she tried to figure out a way to get him to stop. Then something clicked and an idea came into her mind. "As a woman and a possible mate, I want you to stop attacking your sister! Your honour demands it!"

This time he stopped. And it happened quite spontaneously, taking Yoruichi by surprise. His body immediately slackened, his muscles losing their violent tension and the metal from his blades made their signature retracting sound, also creating a sickening squelch and tearing noise as they were pulled out of his flesh. The were-cat lost her grip on Ichigo's arms and fell back since the only thing that had been keeping her up was resistance she had been fighting, which was now gone. She made a quick decision as she fell backwards before hitting the ground and changed back into her cat from, the puff of smoke being much smaller and less dramatic.

Ichigo had been surprised briefly by the woman's orders and her proclamation, of the possibility, of her being a mate. But he did as was told and stopped. His instincts and the time spent hunting with the Yautja had told his body to react as such, seeing the small figure running at him, he had instantly treated it as hostile, even though he was completely aware that this was one of the sisters that he had been informed about earlier, this would not stop him from protecting himself against potential threats.

Looking over his shoulder briefly and down at the ground, he looked at the woman, now cat, who had told him to stop, she looked beyond relieved that he had stopped trying to kill his sister, who was still attached to his front in a damp embrace, but he could still clearly see the wary stare she was giving him.

Isshin stared at his two children, the third still standing where Yuzu had left her. He could see her eyes watering and her lip quivering, the girl was trying so hard to contain her emotions as so she didn't break down into tears like her more sensitive sibling was. Looking back to the embraced pair, he was so thankful that Yuzu hadn't seen what he was about to do, and apparently so hadn't Karin. But, now he couldn't help but feel a great amount of hurt and pain. His son was so close the murdering his own sister and he still could if he so wished at this moment, what with the small frail and fragile child within his reach. He had only heard the last of what Yoruichi was saying to Ichigo and remembered how the neko-woman had told him about his 'clan's' honour system. So it was smart of her to use that in a way that he would have to follow her orders, unless he risk bringing dishonour to himself and all that he stands for.

Seeing his son not responding to his sisters cries, instead just standing there, looking at her and having no clue what to do, Isshin took a couple of steps closer and leaned in to Ichigo's ear.

"Comfort her, Ichigo. Your sister hasn't seen you in ten years, she's going through some serious emotional turmoil, she needs you to calm her down and comfort her." Isshin whispered in ichigo's ear. It was sad that he had to tell his own son to embrace his own sibling after spending so long apart. It just further served to show how much he had changed.

Hearing this, Ichigo peeked out of the corner of his eye towards his father and watched him for a little, when the older man stepped back he looked back to the young girl currently still wrapped around his mid-section. In his time with growing up as a Yautja and living and training with them, he had learned mostly all of the ways that they did things. However, Mother Masa and Dark Knife had never taught him about the emotional side of things, as their race were mainly physical, up until they found themselves mates. He was a completely different race from them, therefore they assumed he was genetically incompatible with a female of the Yautja species and also that the only female on their ship being Mother Masa herself, so they had skipped the ritualistic and emotional teachings that they would give to a Young Blood, should he find himself with a mate.

So, when his father had told him to comfort his sister, he was at a bit of a loss, he didn't exactly know what to do, so Ichigo just returned the embrace, wrapping his arms around Yuzu and pressed the girl's head against the flat of his chest and started doing the first thing that came to mind.

A deep and quiet rumbling started resonating from inside Ichigo's chest, it was almost like a purr. He had remembered Mother Masa doing the exact same thing on one of his more restless night when they had first met. He'd had been unable sleep and Mother Masa had realised this, she began to resound a low, purr-like growl from deep within her chest, this had managed to placate the boy and his restlessness. He knew it worked on him and helped to him calm down, so why would it not work on his sister?

Yuzu was elated that her Ichi-nii was back, all those bottled up feelings had been released and she had thrown herself at her brother. She just cried into his chest and clung on to his much larger frame. It was when her brother had wrapped his arms around her and pressed her into his muscular chest, that Yuzu had felt the safest and happiest that she'd felt in a long time. When she heard the low rumbling coming from Ichigo, the light-brown haired girl got confused, he sounded like large animal of some kind. While it was weird, Yuzu had near instantly felt its desired effect, she was calming down and was no longer a crying mess. Yuzu could tell that he was trying to comfort her, but however strange it was, she couldn't bring herself to question him about his actions, instead opting out to just listen to the sound of her brothers purr and was soon feeling herself nodding off to sleep.

The rest of them of the people present watched incredulously as Yuzu slowly fell asleep in her brothers arms. None, except Yoruichi and Ichigo really knew why though. Yoruichi could hear the deep roll of noise coming from Ichigo's chest with her sensitive cat ears. She too felt herself being lulled to a state of serenity and ease, it was an odd feeling to her, as she watched on.

"Ichi-nii?" It was Karin's trembling voice that got his attention.

He looked up at the other girl, who was supposedly his sister also, this one sported black hair and her body was also very well defined and muscled, much like Yoruichi's. He watched as she took hesitant steps towards him.

"I-is it r-really you, Ichigo?" Karin asked.

Averting his eyes from her, Ichigo looked down at the sister still in his arms, he could see the corners of her mouth turned upwards as she slept lightly in his arms, choosing to not wake the strange girl he lent down and hooked an arm behind her legs and lifted her up bridal style as if she weighed nothing. To which the odd, sleeping girl, that was his newfound sister, unconsciously wrapped an arm around him and buried her face into the crook on his neck.

"Yes.. I am Ichigo." He answered the girl in his deep and unemotional voice. He looked back up from the dozing girl in his hold and stared at the person who had asked him the question. "So you two.. are my sisters..?"

Karin nodded at his question, she was so happy that he was back, not so much that she would throw herself at him like Yuzu had, but enough to warrant the presence of tears running down her face.

"D-do you not r-remember us, Ichi-nii?" She feared the answer of that question, he had asked if they were his sisters, so had he forgotten them? It may have been a tad bit hypocritical of her to ask such a question, when she herself had not recognised who he was until her sister was already screaming out "Onii-chan". That though, was just a lapse of recognition, it seemed that her brother had completely forgotten them.

"No, I do not.. I have forgotten almost everything.. from when I lived here.." Ichigo informed his sister. He decided to not question her calling him "Ichi-nii", as it was more than likely something from when he and they were younger.

Karin had to choke back a cry of pain, it hurt to hear that her own brother did not remember her, she could not blame him though, she had no idea what kind of things he experienced. Whether they had been traumatic or mind-destroying in anyway. Wiping away her tears when she could see that everyone was either looking at her or her brother, she tried to hide her risen emotions, she had a image to maintain after all and she couldn't give Urahara-san anything to tease her about or look weak in front of her father.

"O-oh, okay.. Well I'm Karin and that's Yuzu that you're holding." It felt weird having to tell her brother this, it was like they were meeting for the first time, granted that it was the first in ten years, but it seemed weird nevertheless.

"Karin.. and Yuzu.." Ichigo echoed. So that's what their names were..

As Karin was about to open her mouth to ask her older brother a question, Isshin beat her to the punch and was first to speak up.

"It starting to get dark out here, how about we head inside and talk where it's warmer and where there is light?" The Kurosaki's father suggested. Indeed the sun had begun its nosedive towards the horizon and the sky was now quickly darkening.

Ichigo made no indication of acknowledging what his father had said. He just turned on heel, stepping out of the puddle of his own blood and walked back inside, with Karin following right behind. She saw the wet crimson patch and her eyes shoot wide open in worry. Shifting her gaze to Ichigo, who was already in the shop and still carrying Yuzu, she saw the massive blood stain that ran right down the back of his left leg, making his blue, now dark red, jeans stick to his thigh and calf. Worrying that his brother had been injured, hurried after him as he walked into the next room.

Isshin, Kisuke and Yoruichi watched as the new reunited children disappeared into the shop and they all breathed a sigh of relief. That was definitely not what they had expected to happen.

"Well that was exciting, was it not?" The store owner started. "But someone mind telling me why there is a puddle of Ichigo's blood on the ground? And also why you had to transform back to your human self for a minute there?"

Yoruichi felt a vein throbbing on her forehead from annoyance at the way that Kisuke just described the events that had just happened.

"I had to stop Ichigo from killing his own sister, Kisuke! I transformed and redirected the attack and it ended up in his own back.. That was the reason for the blood." Her attitude changing to grim at the end of the sentence. "Isshin, Ichigo didn't even flinch or hesitate to keep attacking, even when he had his own weapon inside him.. I couldn't feel him react to it at all in fact. I think we need to help him get back to his old self, or at least to a position where he wouldn't do anything like that again without hesitation and fast." She told the young man's father. When he didn't reply, both Yoruichi and Kisuke turned to see the man's brow creased in a small scowl and a deep thoughtful expression on his face.

"Isshin?" Kisuke questioned, curious about the far off look on his friends face.

"Ichigo's wound.. has already healed." He muttered to himself, but loud enough that the other two heard him.

That was not what they had expected to hear. Surely he wasn't implying anything, was he?

"Do you mean it stopped bleeding or-" Kisuke tried to ask.

"No, the whole wound was gone. When he picked up Yuzu his shirt came up and there were no open gashes where he had stabbed himself." Isshin interrupted. He had a troubled look on his face, like he was thinking many things over, or trying to figure something out.

"You don't think that he could possibly have a..?" Yoruichi started. She didn't finish the sentence, the two men knew what she was talking about.

"_Sigh.._ Let us hope not, Yoruichi-san." Isshin breathed out before turning to go inside and start his explanation. The other two followed right after.

* * *

Ichigo, Karin and a sleeping Yuzu were now sitting themselves down in the Urahara Shoten's living room. Karin watched warily from her cushion next to the low table in the middle of the room as Ichigo, who was still holding his snoozing sister, calmly found a place against a wall to her left. He still held onto Yuzu with great care as he sat, her legs over his crossed lap and her arms wrapped around his neck.

While Karin was extremely happy that her brother was back, and better than ever apparently, but oddly silent, she hadn't reacted nearly as drastically as her twin and Karin mused that that was the reason Yuzu had been tired out so easily was due to the overwhelming emotions..

She turned when she heard somebody else enter the room and saw that her dad and Urahara-san and the small black cat entering the room, the two men had uneasy looks on their faces as they both glanced at Ichigo and the cat, who was now resting lazily next to the massive form of her brother. Now that she looked at him properly, having finally gotten over the initial shock, Karin could see that her sister was absolutely minuscule compared to him, being several times small than he was, in almost every aspect. It was no wonder that he was able to carry her with little to no effort.

When the two adults finally sat down Karin looked over at them expectantly and Isshin returned this stare, then exhaled a nervous breath and began to speak.

"Before I begin, I want to tell to you that I am sorry for not telling you this earlier and for keeping this a secret when you had more than enough right to know.." Isshin apologised.

Karin was taken aback by the amount of seriousness and sincerity in her father's voice and in reply she could only nod dumbly and mutter her acceptance of the ahead-of-time apology.

"Onii-chan..." A sleepy whisper was spoken from the waking Yuzu.

Everyone watched as she sat up from her current position against her brother's chest and looked around with lidded eyes, taken in the current environment.

"Sorry, I must have fallen asleep somehow.." She said shyly, a light blush coming to her cheeks. "Uhh, where am I?" Yuzu asked as she looked at her sister and her father from across the room, silently wondering where Ichigo had gone to, but when she shifted her weight and realised that she was current sitting on something warm, the answer was immediately given as she looked up to see that very brother's face.

"Eeek!" She unintelligibly squeaked as she scrambled to quickly get off of her brother. "S-sorry, Onii-chan! I didn't mean to fall asleep on you!" Her face now flushed red with embarrassment. To this everyone, aside from Ichigo, chuckled lightly at the flustered girl, who was pressing her the tips of fingers together and murmuring something about being comfortable.

"It is fine.. You were no trouble.." Ichigo told his sister Yuzu, with a slightly raised brow.

Ending his laughter, Urahara looked over at the kinder of the two twins and gave her a warm smile.

"To answer your question, Yuzu-chan, you are currently inside my quiet little shop that you had been told to come to earlier today." He told her and she nodded, then spoke.

"Ohh, okay.. but.. Ano.." She tried to get out a question, but her growing nervousness was getting the better of her.

"And you are here because there are some things that I have to tell you three." Her father answered for her, knowing the question that she was likely trying to ask.

"What are they, Tou-san?" She was getting more and more curious about what he was going to tell them. Was it to do with the old styled Kimono he was wearing? Or maybe the Katana strapped to his waist, that she had not noticed till that moment? Yuzu was getting anxious and much like her sister, she had many questions piling up in her mind that she needed to ask.

"I will explain soon, Yuzu. Kisuke, if you would, please?" Isshin said while glancing between the bucket-hat wearing man and his black-haired daughter. The blonde that had been addressed nodded and brought out his cane, then with a quick thrust drove it into the girl's forehead.

Everyone watched as another person came out of the body of onyx haired twin, dressed in black garb very similar to what the father was wearing. Karin's body fell limb in the spot it was seated and Yuzu couldn't help but gasp, while Ichigo watched the soul of his sister lay on the floor with an annoyed look on her face.

Karin shot up from her spot that she had been knocked back to and turned to yell at the shopkeeper with a shaking fist.

"What the hell, Geta-Bōshi! A little warning would have been nice!" She shouted. The geta-wearing man just smiled and hid his face behind his fan that he had pulled from nowhere, yet again.

"Oh, but that would be no fun, now would it?" Urahara said, his voice full with obvious mirth. A vein appeared on Karin's forehead in frustration at the man's reasoning. Isshin watched the two interact and laughed lightly. This was going to take a while and getting Karin out of her human body now would save some time so that he wouldn't have to stop midway through explaining something to eject the girl's soul.

"Right, now that that is done, I think I'd better start explaining things for you two." Isshin declared to the other twin and his only son, who were still sitting near each other. It warmed his heart to see that Yuzu was seemingly regressing back to her younger self at the sight of her Onii-chan. He just hoped that they could get Ichigo to do the same thing. Isshin had no problem with Yoruichi helping as well, even if her methods were a bit.. Unorthodox. Anything to help his son come back to him, he would happily accept.

But right now, he had some serious story-telling to do.

* * *

_The next day_

The previous night had been long. Very long, for everybody that was present.

The first thing that Isshin had gone over was his current state of being, which was as a Shinigami, or a Soul Reaper as he had simplified for his, then-clueless, daughter, as well as mentioning that Karin was one as well. He had also said that the raven-haired girl that stayed with them for a couple of months was also one and was the one that had given Karin her power, or at least had helped awaken them.

When it came to tell his daughter that he was actually dead and was just a soul inside a faux body, Yuzu had been devastated and almost broke down in tears. Ichigo had remained his usual silent self throughout the whole ordeal, which unsettled the others in the room a small amount. Then again he had probably seen things that none of the room's other occupants had seen, during his time away.

Isshin had told them that due to his status as a Shinigami and since they were his children they all had Shinigami blood running through their veins, but it seemed to have been more obvious and potent in Karin's, while almost non-existent in Yuzu's, meaning that she would probably never gain her own Soul Reaper powers while living as a human.

Ichigo was still a mystery to the three present adults and it had started to unsettle them a lot. Ichigo's growth potentially was absolutely massive. So when he had told them that he could show them the 'energy' that he was producing they were almost inclined to do it, but they had feared that with his terrifyingly large growth rate that there was a possibility that his Reiatsu would be far bigger than they would expect and would harm those around him as well as gain unwanted attention from the Twelfth Division's sensors, forcing them into action. So they turned Ichigo's offer down in favour or doing it at a later date in a more.. controlled environment.

Isshin had then moved onto their mother and her true identity as a one of the last surviving Quincy.

Karin had just about flipped the table across the room at hearing this. Her mother was the same as Uryu!? Her father shut this thought down though, saying that she was not nearly as prideful as the Ishida-child. He also hypothesised that Yuzu would be more likely to gain some form of Quincy power rather than Shinigami.

The night continued on much like that for the rest of the night, it was mainly just Isshin talking about how he and Masaki had met, his relation and interaction with Kisuke and how he had been kept up to date with all of Karin's happenings, to which he admitted that he was proud of her, even though he really didn't like the idea of his daughter being in danger so often.

However when it had gotten to the point where they had to talk about Masaki's death, that was when emotions started flying.

Karin had just about torn her father apart when she was told that her mother had been brutally murdered in front of a nine year old Ichigo by a _hollow_. Yuzu had instantly started crying again and clutched onto Ichigo as she sobbed quietly into his shirt. Karin had began berating her father about no saving Masaki, at the same time her mind was brought to a screeching halt as it processed the other bit of information. That Ichigo had watched the whole thing. They all looked over at the brother who still sitting silent. They all flinched though, when they saw the absolutely absent look on his face as he stared at the ground in front of him.

Isshin had then explained that he hadn't been able to use his Shinigami powers, since they had been sealed a long time ago and they had only started coming back to him very recently, around the time Karin got her own powers. Though Karin was still sad about the death of her mother, she had nodded in acceptance that there was very little that Isshin could've done to save their mother and that he was not to blame.

Then she remembered that Ichigo had also been abducted that day as well. And Karin began to question that. Ichigo was still extremely vacant and was in no condition to be talking. So Isshin and Kisuke had relayed what they remembered Ichigo telling them, so that he didn't have to do it for a third time. As Yuzu and Karin listened intently as they were told about their Ichi-nii's time with his captors they couldn't believe their ears. He had apparently taken into _Space_! Of all the places! They couldn't help but be filled with sense of morbid fascination. It was an utterly ridiculous concept to grasp to anyone who was not aware of the existence of spirits and spiritual beings and even still, it was a utterly ridiculous even if they were. I mean, come on, space aliens? Really? Karin mused. But it was real nonetheless.

When Kisuke and Isshin had brought up that he had to fight to survive every day, the twin took stock of the injuries and scars that were visible on their brothers body. Three light lines across the side of his face, an expressionless eye on the same side that his scar lines were on. A few were peeking out the top of his shirt at the top of his chest and the most shocking to the pair, was the missing digit on his left hand. When Yuzu saw this, her motherly instincts went into overdrive and she had cried a panicked cry and went to inspect it, worried for her older brother's health and wellbeing. She had poked and prodded it, inspecting every line of scar tissue with a sad look on her face. Ichigo showed no indication that it hurt at all, which it probably didn't, as it had healed many years ago.

So it was now, after the small family had returned back to the clinic that Isshin owned and operated, that they had woken to a new day and a new morning. The girls still had to head to school so Ichigo and Isshin would be left at home all day.

Karin and Yuzu were currently in the kitchen, Karin lazily sitting on one of the chairs waiting for Yuzu to finish up their daily morning meal and Yuzu did exactly that and their father was likely in the clinic prepping for the day's load of work since he hadn't done it yesterday and Ichigo was showering, cleaning off the blood that he hadn't realised that he had been covered in until he had seen it in the mirror of the room he was now staying in.

A knock at the door and the sound of irate shouting from outside the house warned Karin that her friend and sparring partner, also Ichigo's ex-friend and ex-sparring partner, Tatsuki was at the door.

Getting up in a huff, Karin walked to the door and was assaulted with questions from the angry black-haired martial artist, while another girl behind her was trying to calm her down.

"What the hell, Karin! Why weren't you at Karate practise yesterday!? I was forced to spar with the new kids and they were so helpless and boring!" Tatsuki complained. Karin averted her eyes and rubbed the back of her head sheepishly.

"Oh, uh, sorry about that Tatsuki.. Something came up last night and I couldn't make it." She told the older girl.

"Oh, that's okay then, isn't it Tatsuki-chan?" The other older girl asked, trying to calm her friend down a bit. Tatsuki was about to turn and talk to her auburn-haired friend when they heard Yuzu call out.

"Orihime-nee!" said girl, turned to see the younger, mother-like girl walking towards them with a big smile on her face. When Orihime saw her, she ran to embrace the girl that had come to be like a real sister and it was return in full.

"How're you Yuzu? You look so much more happy than normal!" Orihime asked the younger girl, having noticed the bigger than normal smile on her face.

"That's because Onii-chan came back!" Yuzu shouted with glee and Orihime looked at her confused.

"Onii-chan? I didn't know you had a brother, Yuzu." Orihime wondered quizzically as she turned back to Tatsuki who had known the twins longer. She saw the girl was wide-eyed and jaw hanging slack and trying to form words.

"I-Ichigo.. I-is back?" Tatsuki asked as she looked at the two sisters, who were nodding vigorously. Orihime still looked rather confused.

"Who's Ichigo, Tatsuki?" She voiced her confusion.

"H-he was a boy I met at the dojo when we were five and we had been friends since. Until.. Until he disappeared two days.. after his ninth birthday.. On the same day that their mother died." She told her bubbly friend who looked utterly shocked. Orihime had never heard anything about Ichigo before today and she was surprised that she hadn't. She looked down to see that Yuzu still had the same ecstatic look on her face, even if it had been saddened a little.

"Where is he?! How is he? Is he alright?!" Tatsuki asked excitedly she hadn't seen that boy in ten years, she wondered how much he had changed. And Orihime was just curious about who this mystery brother was. Karin rolled her eyes and her sparring mate's reaction.

"He's fine, Tatsuki. He's just finished showering by the sounds of it, so he should be down any minute." She explained and much to her relief it seemed to work with getting her to calm down, as Tatsuki had stopped her frantic searching for any signs of Ichigo in the Immediate area. While they waited Yuzu and Karin informed the girl that Ichigo didn't remember anything from his early life, so he probably wouldn't his time sparring and being friends with her. Tatsuki looked saddened by this but still wanted to see her only childhood friend for the first time in so long.

Creaking could be heard coming from the stairs, indicating that he was on his was down. When Ichigo came into view, all four girls that were waiting for him blushed furiously. Standing before them, was the incredibly tall form of the twin's brother. Currently the only thing he was wearing was a white towel wrapped tightly around his waist, having been told it was improper to walk around naked when Urahara told his father of what he had done the night he stayed at the Shoten.

Ichigo stood their staring at the girls who had suddenly gone red-faced. His damp, strawberry-blonde hair sticking to his shoulders, chest and back. The water and steam from the shower that had collected on his skin gave each of his large and defined muscles a glossy look, making them more apparent and every mark and scar from his torturous training and savage living style, that he had accumulated on his torso and arms, were now _very_visible. They could also see the metallic wrist bracer that he was wearing and the wires that reached around to his back.

"Ichi-nii! Put some damn clothes on!" Karin shouted in embarrassment. He looked completely unaffected by the fact that he was extremely close to revealing himself fully to the four girls that were in front of him.

"I couldn't find them.." He spoke monotonously and looked over at the newcomers, one of the girls had long burnt orange hair and a large breast size for someone her age, her body was frail and light, definitely not built for fighting, she had also been the one to turn the most red. The other was much more fit looking for a girl, like his sister and Yoruichi, she would be much more suited for fighting and physically demanding exercise. This one had spiky black hair running down her back and a look of happiness as she stared at his own face.

"Oh sorry, Ichi-nii!" Yuzu said, her embarrassed look being for different reasons now. "They're being washed at the moment and I forgot that you don't have any others" She looked at her brother apologetically, but she saw that he looked unperturbed that she had taken his clothes.

"It is fine.. I will wait.." He replied, his face and voice still uncaring. Then the new girl spoke up.

"You sure have changed a lot, Ichigo." Tatsuki said. The man in question looked back to the girl talking to him. "I'm Tatsuki, If you don't remember me.. We.. We used to spar together, before you disappeared." Her smile was fond and reminiscent as she stared at the man before her.

Ichigo reacted with the most emotion he's show thus far since returning, as a small smile made its way onto his face. 'Did he remember me/_her_?' Were peoples respective thoughts as he walked forwards and to a stop in front of the girl who had asked the question.

The difference in height became painfully obvious as they stood in front of each other, Tatsuki had to crane her neck backwards just to look at him as he was a full head and neck over all of them. They both looked at each other for a few moments, before Ichigo spoke up. What he said saddened the girl, but also brought an incredibly large smirk to her face.

"I don't remember you.. Tatsuki.. But if you want to spar.. I would be willing.."


	10. The Brutality of an Old Friendship

_**Hey guys, sorry about the longer than usual delay on the chapter release. I had family visiting for a few days and I've just started doing part-time work again.**_

_**This was what I was able to write without you having to wait another weak for another chapter, so I hope you forgive me.**_

_**Enjoy!**_

* * *

Tatsuki and Ichigo stared each other down for a short while. The latter still with a very slight grin on his and the former, a large, rapturous smirk.

This had the other three girls nervous, they knew how strong Tatsuki was after the many times that they had seen her spar at the dōjō. Anybody who wasn't close to being a black belt or at a near professional level stood absolutely no chance against her. The girl had been dubbed _the_ strongest girl in Japan and was planning on competing in the world championships to further prove her skills as a martial artist. So this only served to further prove how strong Tatsuki was and they knew that she would probably not lose any fight she got into.

But none of them knew about Ichigo or his true capabilities.

They could physically see that he wasn't to be considered weak by any means, his taut and fibrous muscles that lined torso were clear indicators of that. Still, they didn't really have a true gauge of his strength, other than Karin knowing that Yuzu was but a feather to him, yet that was more due to the obvious size difference between the two of them.

So with that unclear circumstance, Karin, Yuzu and Orihime were hesitant to let the two fight it out for fear of either of their safety and health. Both of them were wild cards, they didn't know how much power Ichigo had and they didn't know if Tatsuki would go easy on her childhood friend. Soon a loud voice broke the eerie silence.

"My precious daughters! Why are you still here? You are going to be late for school!" Isshin shouted as he came sliding around the corner in the kitchen doorway via the polished vinyl floor.

Turning to their eccentric father, the twins looked at him with a raised brow and then at the clock on the wall. Seeing that he was indeed right, Yuzu started in a panic.

"Oh, no! We've got to get going Karin-chan!" The motherly twin yelped.

"Yeah, alright, Yuzu." Karin drawled in a bored tone. She really didn't want to have to go to school, compared to her Shinigami life, it just seemed so.. Dull, and.. well.. Boring. She knew the dangers that such a profession came with, like most always do, except this one had more of a life and death aspect to the danger, both figuratively and literally, and as sadistic as it sounds, she preferred it to her human life. It was just much more interesting.

The twins went to the kitchen where they had left their bags and said goodbye to their father. Walking back out to the front door Yuzu saw that Ichigo was still standing there, just sporting a towel around his waist and nothing else.

"Umm, Ichi-nii, If you want some clothes to wear in the meantime, you could ask Tou-san to borrow some of his." Yuzu explained. Ichigo shifted his gaze from his sister's two friend's over to the twin that had spoken and acknowledged what he had been told with a brief nod. His almost non-existent smile now completely gone. "Okay then! You're clothes should be finished being washed in a few minutes, so just get Tou-san to get them out for you" And with that they left. Leaving Tatsuki, Orihime and Ichigo standing in the entrance to the Kurosaki household, both girls still had blushes on their face, but were significantly less than what they were before, having gotten over the initial shock of his appearance.

Looking over Ichigo again, Tatsuki took note of all the marks and imperfections over his exposed chest, arms and face, also noticing the missing little finger on his left hand, the dark-haired karate expert suppressed a wince, he looked like he had been through hell and she knew that it had hurt just by looking at it. This made her wonder what he had been through, but decided not to voice her concern. It wasn't that she didn't care that it looked like he had been a lot of pain and suffering, she just had enough tact to know that bringing up something that people usually do not want to talk about, was rude.

"So, Ichigo." Breaking the silence, Tatsuki began with an almost condescending grin "Did you want to come spar with me down at the dōjō when I go to open up? Or you gonna wimp out and stay at home all day?" She teased the taller man, hoping to get a reaction out of him. When she heard nary a sound nor call in rebuttal from him, only a stare of cold impassivity, she frowned. This was not the Ichigo that she remembered, the old one would have probably yelled back at her in defiance, saying that he would win and would never wimp out. Instead she got a nod like he had given his sister just a minute ago. Just when she thought he would remain silent he spoke.

"I will come with you.. to the 'dōjō'.. I do need my clothes.. As I was told it is.. indecent? To be without clothes.. around others.." He told the two girls before him. It seemed almost ridiculous to him. He and his clan brothers hadn't the need for clothing whilst not hunting, doing something requiring physical exertion, or within the presence of an elder. Even Mother Masa had barely worn clothing around him, most of the time they just wore a simple dried leather loin-cloth or just nothing at all, they found no need for it when not in combat, they all knew what the other's body looked like and what would be hidden away, so why bother?

What human's wore was useless. What does a thin piece of fibre do to protect them from anything? Were they so fragile and weak that they could not wear armour, like he and the Yautja? It was almost insulting to him to be one of their species and then this child-bearer in front of him has the audacity to call him a coward? He should gut the woman right now just to prove the bitch wrong, consequences be damned.

But Ichigo had promised. He had promised to Yoruichi that he would not harm the humans of his home town and would follow up on that promise. She had said that she would possibly be his future mate and so Ichigo would do as she said, if only to increase those chances further.

Tatsuki finally took note of what her long lost friend was clothed in, then averted her eyes and responded to his statement.

"Okay then, good. We'll have to stop by Orihime's work beforehand, but that shouldn't take long, so after that we can see what you're made of and if you can keep up with me" She began. "And of course it's indecent! Nobody wants to see you without your pants on!" She shouted at the young man a vein throbbing on her forehead. He didn't even look fazed by this sudden increase in anger, he just stood there staring at her with no change in his expression.

"Speaking of my work, Tatsuki-chan. I really should get going soon, or else I'm going to be late as well." Orihime timidly spoke up.

The girl being spoken to turned to her friend.

"Alright then, Orihime. Just wait a minute while I talk to Ichigo's old man about some clothes for the walk there at least." That's all they really needed, when they got to the karate studio they could just give Ichigo a Karategi to wear, but they still might be a bit hard-pressed to find one his size.

"No need, my darling third and fourth daughters!" The very man Tatsuki was just talking about exclaimed, as he came around the corner holding a bundle of dark fabric. "His clothes have just finished being cleaned and dried!" Isshin told them, in his usual flamboyant manner. He threw the jeans and shirt to his son who snatched them out of mid air and turned to retreat up the stairs and get changed without making a sound.

Sighing, Isshin watched his son pace back up to his room, then turned back to his daughter's friends slash pseudo-sister's, their blushes had disappeared and they stood there, now waiting for Ichigo to come back down.

"Sorry about Ichigo, girls. He's been away longer than he was here, so he kind of grew up in a different environment and will take a while for him to get used to the way we do things." He told the two before him, he knew that they had noticed how different and emotionless he looked and acted, or at least Tatsuki did, being the only one of the two who actually knew him before he was taken from his home.

"Eh, he can learn proper etiquette around people again. But if he can't do it the normal way, we'll just have to beat it into him and teach him the old fashioned way." Tatsuki proclaimed, punching a fist into an open hand. She didn't care that he had changed or had been gone for so long, there was no point living in the past like that. Ichigo was back and that was it, if he changed then he changed, there was nothing else to it.

"It's not quite as easy as that. His lifestyle was so radically different than our own, Tatsuki." His voice sullen and serious, taking the two by surprise. However the man's face changed to a cheeky smirk and Tatsuki and Orihime were suddenly wary of what was about to be said next. "And all those muscles and scars that you two were staring at, aren't for show like you may think they may had been!" He declared.

Next thing Isshin knew saw, was the fist coming for his face, sending him back, into the wall behind him.

"Dammit! You perverted old goat!" Tatsuki yelled. Orihime and herself now sporting blushes again, though Tatsuki's was more from the rage she was feeling towards the thin-bearded man. "Stop saying such stupid things! And we aren't your daughters!" She turned back to Orihime and grabbed her arm to drag her out the door before their friend's father could spout any more nonsense in their direction.

"Come on, Ichigo! Let's get going!" She shouted in the direction of the stairs to the second floor of the house. A second later, Ichigo was descending those stairs, now fully clothed, and made his way past his father, who was currently nursing a large bump on top of his head. When the man saw his son walk past he ignored the dull pain on the top of his skull and went to say his farewell's to his son and his two 'daughters'.

"Goodbye, my children! Try not to have too much fun!" He hollered out to them as they began to leave the premises. The auburn haired girl turned around as best she could with her best friend's grip still around her arm and gave a small, kind wave goodbye.

"It was nice seeing you again, Kurosaki-san!" She called back to the father of three. A sincere smile on her face.

"Ahh, As it was to see you too, Orihime-chan!" Isshin gave the gesture back. Then he looked to his son, who was blatantly uncaring to the happenings around him, and sighed. He been doing that a lot as of recent. "Oh and Ichigo." He spoke out to the strawberry teen, who turned his attention to his father. His one empty and emotionless eye staring at him with it's cold, but vicious, twin. The combination was frightening enough to send a deep chill running up the centre of Isshin's being. "Remember the promise you made."

Ichigo continued to stare at his father for a moment, then answered.

"I will do.. what she asks of me.. and not bring harm to other.. humans.." The two girl's looked at him startled, while the young man's father nodded his head in acceptance. It was the only thing they could do to stop him from being a possible threat to the town's population, they would never think of restraining him and forcing him to not cause harm to other's via threats, no, they could not do that to his son, or really anybody they knew. And they couldn't get him to take off his wrist bracer so that he wasn't armed, because that was, apparently, the only thing keeping his unknown amount of power from running amok on the souls and bodies of the town's residents.

So they had settled for an honour bound promise, asked by Yoruichi, his 'future mate' and they had theorised that it would work. If he wasn't provoked that is.

Tatsuki and Orihime, stood there still a little frightened by that promise, won't bring harm to other _humans_? What the hell is that about? What kind of life style had he been living that he would even think about doing that in a regular and casual fashion?

Tatsuki turned from taking his return in a very nonchalant way, to being very concerned. She had thought he had just become a little bit more introverted and uncaring to the things around him, but not this..

Orihime was fairing a bit worse though. She had been initially scared of his imposing size and his freezing gaze, it was an almost guaranteed reaction to get from anyone with a weaker will or one who was easily disheartened. Her worries were eased as Yuzu and Karin seemed to be unperturbed by their brother. Still, despite this, there was fear present in her eyes that was going unnoticed by everyone else. But when she heard that he might hurt people, she started to worry, she never liked seeing people in pain and this showed through her pacifistic nature and willingness to heal Tatsuki's sparring injuries that she would often accumulate after working at the dōjō.

"Are you not late for something?" A low voice broke the two young women out of their thoughtful daze's and they turned to see that Ichigo was standing next to them on the footpath just outside his house.

"Huh? O-oh yeah, t-that's right!" Orihime unintelligibly spluttered out. She grabbed onto her best friend's arm and started walking. "Come on Tatsuki-chan, I don't wanna upset my boss by being late!" She said as she begun gently goading in other girl into moving.

Looking back at the nervous and slightly startled Orihime with a raised eyebrow, she relented and allowed herself to be pulled along by her irate friend.

* * *

_forty minutes later_

"Alright, let me just open the dōjō up and I'll get you a Gi to wear." Tatsuki told Ichigo as they came in through the back door of the martial arts compound. It was a large, traditional Japanese style building, the interior was very spacious and had plenty of room for multiple students to practice and spar, along with benches on the sides for parents, waiting participants, or observers, to sit and watch, and spaced evenly across the floor were large floor mats, designed as padding so that it would be less catastrophic should somebody fall and smash their head into the ground.

Ichigo watched as his childhood karate partner dropped a bag that she had been carrying into the corner of the room and proceeded to walk over and begin unlocking the main door to the large building they were in. She hauled out a small sign with the word "Open" on it and placed it out front for people to see. She turned back and came back inside, glancing at Ichigo she signalled for him to follow with a wave of her hand and he did as he was told.

"There's a lot of spare Gi in the back room there, that you can try on." She pointed to a door behind her. "So just find a pair that fits you and change into it and I'll wait for you to get changed. _Then_ we can see if you've remembered anything from way back, when you still used to spar with me and we'll find out if I can still kick your ass, like I always did." She said with a prideful smirk. Ichigo looked unfazed by this, but on the inside the man was seething, this woman had the audacity _again!_ to insinuate that he was weak, she was lucky that she had promised the dark-skinned woman that no true harm would come to the people of 'Karakura Town'.

"Do not think that I am weak.. Tatsuki.." Ichigo told her as he walked past to go into the room with the so called 'Gi' uniform. Tatsuki still had a smug smile, but now also had a raised eyebrow as she watched him disappear into the room.

"We'll just have to see about that then!" She called out to him.

Several minutes later he emerged with only a pair of the Karategi pants on, he had heard noise from the main room whilst picking his clothes and wondered what the cause was. Ichigo looked around the room to see where, what or who the risen levels of volume were coming from, he saw several other people dressed in the same white uniform that he was wearing. They each had different coloured belt tied around their waist and were each of varying sizes and statures, though they were all smaller than he was. Amidst all the new arrivals was the girl whom he had followed here, also dressed in white, she had a black belt tied around her as she stood their talking to the people.

Walking up to the small group, he watched as the newcomers all turned to stare at him. Tatsuki followed their gaze and saw Ichigo standing a few feet away from them all, just wearing the pants of the white Gi uniform and the black long-sleeved top that he had been wearing when they left his house.

"Couldn't find a top big enough, Ichigo?" She asked him, wondering about the lack of the upper half of the Karategi. To which he nodded mutely, still staring back at the people who were staring at him. Tatsuki glanced back at the students and noticed the large amount of fear and worry emanating from them all.

"It's rude to stare!" She shouted at them, as they snapped out of their horror induced gaze. "Me and Ichigo are going to be sparring on our own for a while. Now go and get started on the basic drills and warm-ups!" She commanded and in return she got a chorus of "Hai, Sensei!". And they all scurried away to their mats in pairs. The woman still standing there sighed..

"Alright, Ichigo, let's go get this started shall we?" It was not so much a question, as it was an agreement. They walked over to the empty section of the padded floor room and Tatsuki stopped to turn around to Ichigo.

"I'm going to go easy on you, since it has been a while since you were last here." She told the taller person before her, as she shifted into a fight-ready stance, her legs spread evenly and her arms in front of her chest, ready to take action. Ichigo clenched his fist by his side tightly, several bones echoing sharp cracking sounds in the immediate area. This woman continues to insult him and smile about it at the same time? This promise is her inadvertent saviour and godsend.

"Stop talking, woman.. You're insults are only hurting my honour.. and slowly sealing your fate.. " His voice contained a slight amount more anger, which was some of the most emotion that it had ever had in a very long time. She looked at him questioningly for a brief few seconds before smiling.

"Here I come then! Don't blame me if you get hurt and start crying!" She shouted to him as she took off and begun closing the gap between them, in response, Ichigo started doing the same, only making the space between them grow smaller, faster.

She watched him carefully, as he approached, his entire guard was open and his fists her low and clenched. Jeez he has been away for a while if that is his stance, it's absolutely pathetic.

Deciding to make the first move as they were only a few feet apart now, she brought her right leg back in preparation, and waiting for the right moment, then fired. Swinging her leg out and bringing it around to collide with Ichigo left arm, she expected him to dodge, or at least try to block it, but no, he just took the hit like it was nothing. It was a fairly weak kick, really only strong enough to knock someone off course or to serve as a distraction to be followed up immediately, so it wasn't all that surprising for someone his size to take a hit that easily.

Ichigo stopped his advancing movements and looked at the leg pressed against his arm and back to Tatsuki, who had a befuddled look on her face. The strawberry-blonde furrowed his eyebrows in annoyance, maybe this fight was a waste of time, if that was the best she's got, unless she was still 'going easy' on him.

"Weak.."

Before Tatsuki could do anything to retort to the verbal jab, a flat hand connected in the dead centre of her chest, instant tearing the air straight from her lungs, causing her to lose all the precious oxygen her body was trying to absorb from that breath. She next felt the sensation of falling and then the abrupt stop of hitting the soft mats of the dōjō floor, then absolute silence, aside from the dull ringing in her ears.

Taking a sharp intake of much needed air, she wheezed a little. Opening the eyes that the dōjō's martial sensei hadn't realised that she had closed, her view came back and noticed it was staring straight at the wood roof of the training building.

'What the hell just happened?' Tatsuki's mind was just trying to figure out exactly that, by trying to replay what had happened in those short couple of seconds. First, she hit him with a wide kick and it had no effect. Then he called her weak. After that, the next thing that she knew, was a broad hand slamming into her sternum and then, Nothing. Nothing, until she felt herself falling onto the pads below her.

"Get up.. I couldn't feel or hear your ribs break.. You can still fight.."

What the fuck happened to Ichigo?! How could he be this cold and ruthless?! Tatsuki sat up from her prone position on the floor, her eyes blurring for a moment, before she shook it away. She looked straight at Ichigo and cursed as he stood there, unmoving and unruffled by her attack, only waiting for her to get up and start fighting again.

Willing her momentarily oxygen deprived body to move, she got up on unsteady feet. Taking a quick look around she noticed that she had landed a good ten or twelve feet away from her previous standing position. She guessed that she should count herself lucky that she hadn't broken anything from that hit if it had been powerful enough to send her this far.

Seeing that her students had stopped their proceedings to observe their fight, she growled under her breath in annoyance and then shouted at them to get back to training. they all did exactly that, not wishing the wrath of their mentor to be brought down on them.

Shaking her head to clear away the dizziness that was slowly accumulating, Tatsuki readied herself in her fighting stance once again.

"I guess going easy on you was a mistake, huh, Ichigo?" She called to him. He still stood, an impassive look on his face, aside from the creased together eyebrows. Knowing that the conversation would not proceed any further than that, Tatsuki ran at him again, this time she wasn't holding back.

She ran at him like before, albeit a bit more hesitantly. She didn't want to risk exerting herself too much right after blacking out from that palm strike after all. Once in range the punches were starting to be thrown. Tatsuki sending several towards his chest and one to his head. The greater height was a severe advantage for Ichigo, because if she aimed for his upper body for too long and too often her whole lower half would be exposed.

The power in the first few strike to the chest had an astonishing amount of power behind it. Not as strong as Mother Masa or any other Yautja for that matter, but definitely more powerful than he had expected from a human that wasn't like him. So when the blows had finished their impact after being let through, he decided it would be wise to start stopping these attacks.

The fist that was flying towards his skull was stopped by Ichigo's hand grappling the arm that the fist was attached to. He squeezed eliciting a pained grunt from his sparring 'partner', swinging his left arm wide, he threw the small girl a few feet away and dropped to a more fight appropriate stance. His legs separated and bent a small amount, his hands were around waist height and his front exposed to his opponent, the stance was very similar to someone about to tackle another in a physical sport.

Tatsuki having recovered from the throw, with a graceful flip onto her feet instead of her side or back, watched carefully, back in her honed to near perfect karate stance, she watched as Ichigo stood there ready for her to go again, which she did.

Sending out a sharp kick to the centre of his chest like he had done to her, but with his hand, she attacked. As it was about to connect she felt his grasp on her limbs again. Having predicted this reaction, she brought her other leg up in a small jump and spun around the grip that Ichigo had on her ankle and brought the speeding limb straight down into the crook of his neck.

When it connected she almost yelping in pain and surprise. He felt like he was made of rock.

Feeling the hold on her leg loosen, Tatsuki quickly slammed her feet into his chest and shoulder and used him as a platform to flip herself away. When she landed multiple feet away on all fours she expected him to be still standing in the same position when she looked up, but was proven instantly wrong when a solid, bone-filled fist connected with the crown of her skull, sending her head snapping back behind her and causing the body it was attached to, to follow.

She tumbled limply backwards before stopping another ten feet away from her original position.

She did not dare move..

Because, right now her whole world was spinning. Her cranium throbbed with a incredible ache and her ears stung with a high-pitched screech. She could hear the people shouting but couldn't make out what they were actually saying, all she could think about was that hit. How could Ichigo be so brutal with his strikes? How strong had her childhood friend gotten? Maybe she shouldn't have antagonised him so much..

Tatsuki had seen his scars. She had very clearly seen the damage that his body had sustained. He had even warned her that he wasn't weak.. But she took no heed of it. The onyx-haired girl understood now.. Ichigo had no qualms with killing, but would not kill her due to that promise.. Thank Kami for that promise. Tatsuki had remembered that he had spoken something about 'hunting', but at the moment her head was too jarred to put a finger on what he said.

She forced her legs beneath her body and she could hear people protesting her actions all around her. She decided to ignore them and even her own mind that was telling her to stop. Looking over at where Ichigo had been seen last, with shaky eyes she spotted him, only he was half the distance away and closing.

If he was going to come at her with the intent to kill, she would have to return the favour.

In a sudden burst of movement, her body flew forwards, she ignored the pain that the motion was sending through her skull and jumped. Drawing her leg back she channelled the energy flowing within herself, that she had been not willing to use against Ichigo, for his safety. What a mistake that was..

In one fluid movement she sent the empowered leg barrelling towards her old friend's head. Though she was unable to properly discern his expression or face, she could see his movements and she saw when he brought up his arm to block the attack.

_CRACK!_

The instant the leg connected with his arm, everyone could clearly hear the distinct sound of bone snapping harshly. Followed by Tatsuki's body falling to the ground, her energy spent and her body numb from pain.

The girl's hazy eyes stared up at Ichigo and his now visibly bent forearm.

'Ha, Payback's a bitch, Ichigo.' She weakly laughed in her mind. What happened next nearly made her vomit though.

With his unbroken arm he reached over to the other and grabbed it. Surely he wasn't?

He was..

Violently he twist his arm snapping whatever hadn't been broken under his flesh. They could all hear very loud squelches, tears and crunching come from his devastated arm, several of those with a 'less tolerant' stomach ran outside to empty it's contents. Those who were smarter turned away and blocked their ears as he silently finished off the last of the fracturing, but Tatsuki watched on as her childhood friend continued to make not a sound as he readjusted his broken ulna and radius.

When it was finally straight he let go of his arm and kept it there for a few moment, before turning his attention to the downed girl.

She could barely hear the deep rumbling coming from Ichigo and it was only when he reach down with the arm that she had just shattered and picked her up to throw over his shoulder, that she knew what that sound was.

He was laughing.

Not loud, boisterous laughter. No. It was deep, guttural, and full of mirth. Why was he laughing?

Only after the bright light of day hit her did she recognise that she was actually being carried away from her dōjō.

'Ahh' She thought. 'At least he's nice enough to go get me help.. I hope that's what Ichigo's doing.' And with that she passed out, not seeing the slowly growing smile on Ichigo face and also both not seeing the Yellow eyes that had been watching the entire fight since the very beginning.

* * *

_**Okay, So I hope the wait was worth it. I'm quite happy with how this one turned chapter turned out.**_

_**Now, I know you're going to be like "Yo, dude, Soul Society and shit?" and yes, sorry about I **_**was_ going to have that in this one. But I thought it better to give you a whole chapter of the starting Invasion instead of half of one, so just bear with me :)_  
**

**_Also. 'Karategi'? shouldn't it be 'Karate Gi'? Yeah probably, but Wiki had it written like the former so (apparently) it can be done like that._**

**_Apologies for any errors or spelling mistakes._**

**_REVIEWS:_**

**_friaku: _**_I didn't have the heart to kill her.. it would've been too cruel and I would have cried hahahah. Your worry is well placed sir. Thanks for the kind words and review as always :)_

**_Zaralann:_**_ So far I have written that he has the armour, helmet, computer, wrist blades on him atm. He has more, they just haven't been mentioned yet._

**_Guest:_**_ Zaraki will come, good things just have to take time :)_

**_Apocalypse Legionaire 117: _**_It was the only real way to get through to him so yeah, if it works it works. And the Violence is coming, do not worry :D__  
_

**_SeanHicks4: _**_Ahh yes, The birthday and death thing with the dates. Originally, this was unintentional mistake, but I can to realise I like how it worked out. Though if it bothers your too much then do not worry, it wont be brought up again._

**_lajoie21: _**_What happen next? this happen next is what. :D_

**_Wolfyhound:_**_ Woah, That was quite a few reviews hahah First of all many thanks for each of them and all the kind words, :D and secondly, You honour me by saying that this is your number one, you have no idea how good that makes me feel. (full homo)._

**_voidblade6:_**_ Your words! they make me feel good inside! Hnnngggg!_

_**OverDemon: ***sniff* Thank you, kind sir *sniff*  
_

**_SOOO many thanks_**

**_- Gorgantuan_**


	11. The Hunt for Blood is Nearing

**_Hey guys, sorry about the delay. Between finally finding a new job, suffering from writers block, organising stuff for a music gig and personal commitments It took a while to get this chapter out. So do not fear. I have NOT forgotten about this story. Far from it._**

**_Enough talk, on with the Story!_**

* * *

_Several days later._

Ichigo stood on top of a large rocky outcrop watching silently as five figures stood below him. Each completely unaware of his presence, as he had replaced the clothing he had been given to wear and put his armour and mask back on; giving him the ability to seemingly faze out of existence.

The five people, each of varying shapes and sizes, stood around waiting for something to apparently happen or somebody to show up. Whichever one it was, Ichigo was soon to find out.

* * *

_Flashback. After the fight in the dōjō._

Ichigo's nearly unperceivable smile still graced his lips as he made his way towards his 'family's' home and his father's clinic. This young and small child-bearer, that he was carrying, had actually managed to break his arm. While Mother Masa and many of the other males had been able to do the exact same thing, and more, he was still mildly surprised that she had accomplished such a feat.

He had not expected to see her leg be covered in the energy that the human's of Karakura produced and be used as an external weapon. Whereas he had been pumping it, if it was the same type of energy that is, straight into his body and used it to enhance his physical power and capabilities. As well as to power the gear he wore when out on hunts.

It took at least thirty minutes to get back to his birth father's house. It didn't matter that it took so long to get back the abode, the little fighter over his shoulder was not going to die. She would have head pains and some heavy skin bruising. But there was nothing that was going to affect her detrimentally and no broken bones to speak of also.

He walked up the short path to the front door of the house, Tatsuki's limp arms swinging back and forth with each step. Getting to the door, Ichigo grabbed the large metal handle and turned it, opening the door. He was so used to the automatic doors of the Yautja ship and was beginning to find these contraptions to be rather infuriating and time wasting, he was admittedly very close to just sending the sole of his boot into the flimsy surface of the doors and just kicking them off their hinge's. But he refrained himself from doing so.

The door swung up harshly and the two bodies entered the house. Ichigo paused and looked around to see if his father was nearby and saw nothing but the empty entranceway to the inner workings of building, figuring his father to be working he made his way through the series of rooms to the clinic, where he could hear activity and noises coming from.

Opening one last door he found Isshin sitting in front of a small table next to one of the stark white beds, a small boy on top of that and a woman, about the same age as his father, next to the youngling. He saw the two unknown people jump in fright from his abrupt entrance, while his father had a slight look of surprise as he turned his attention away from bandaging the child's arm and focused it on his son and the limp person over his shoulder. Isshin's features darkened at the scene before him, before brightening slightly, as to not worry the young patient and parent.

"Ichigo, my son! I was not expecting you back for another few hours!" His voice to the average person would sound normal and cheerful, maybe slightly surprised. But Kurosaki "Dead Eye" Ichigo knew otherwise. "And why are you carrying Tatsuki? Is she alright?" Isshin asked, straining his voice at the last part to clearly get the message across.

"She is fine.. Just unconscious.." Ichigo told his father. Ignoring the room's two other occupants who were staring at him with something akin to fear in their eyes.

"_Sigh_.. Alright then, just put her down on one of the beds and I'll take a look at her once I'm done here with this brave man!" The fatherly doctor said as he turned a bright smile to the small boy that he was currently bandaging up. The kid returned a grin brighter than the sun when he heard the black haired doctor call him brave. Oh, the innocence of youth.

Not replying, Ichigo turned on heel and faced one of the spare clinic beds. Stepping to the foot of the bed, the long haired pre-adult unceremoniously dumped the girl on the bed, her slack limbs flailing limply as she bounced slightly on the cushioned mattress. Eliciting a pained moan from Ichigo's sparring mate. He ignored it and turned back to his father who was staring at him with a slight exasperated expression on his face.

"I will wait until you are done.." Ichigo told his birth parent as he glanced at the patient and his mother, then made his way out through the door he had come through.

Isshin watched as his son exited the room and let out a low breath once he was out of sight. His son. His very own flesh and blood, frightened him. Not it such a way that he would cower in fear whilst in his very presence. No. He had enough experience around scary people to not be effected in such a way, namely the ancient and very powerful Sōtaichō, as well as the beautiful, but incredibly unnerving Taichō of the fourth division. His son though, was a different kind of scary, in a way that it is almost impossible to predict his reactions to the things around him. Call it a lack of familiarity or having not been around him long enough, but this Ichigo was such an enigmatic wild card, that he was damn near impossible to get a true gauge of what he would or would not do.

_Several minutes later_

Ichigo re-entered the room and saw that the two people had left and that his father was now looking over a semi-conscious Tatsuki, gentle prodding and poking at her now visibly bruised flesh.

The man looked up from his impromptu patient and shifted his gaze to his son, who had come back into the sterile environment. His brow was creased together, giving away his current state of annoyance.

"Ichigo. What happened to her?" Isshin asked through gritted teeth, holding back from yelling at his own child. He had a suspicion that he was going to know the answer. Tatsuki was not weak by any means, quite the opposite actually; being named the strongest girl in Japan doesn't just happen. A title like that can only be earned. So there were actually very few people -hollows included- around that could truly pose a threat to her.

"We were sparring, she passed out.. after she broke my arm, with some kind of empowered kick.." The emotionally cold late-teen told him, as he stared at his previously broken arm.

"I was talking about her injuries, how did she get them? And why does your arm not look broken?" Isshin's anger was starting to rise and Ichigo could tell as he saw his father gripping a small medical instrument tightly in his hands, which had been pressed against the girl's chest, right where a large bruise had formed from his palm thrust to her chest.

"I told you already, we were sparring.. And it has healed already.." His uncaring answer echoed through the large, sterile room. He stared at his father and the man returned the stare equally, though there was a small hint of disbelief behind that gaze. "I did not hear anything break.. when I struck her chest.. And I held back when I hit her skull.. Her injuries aren't bad.. she is barely harmed.." Ichigo continued, deciding to elaborate on the cause of her injuries.

This is what his son considers an injury that isn't bad?! His ex-best friend had a concussion from the 'held back' hit to the cranium, a heavily bruised shin due to _her _attack and from the blunt force trauma to the dead centre of the chest, the girl more than likely had each of the ribs that had been hit, crack and some minor internal haemorrhaging. He calls that barely harmed?!

"You promised her, Ichigo," Isshin began, his voice low and serious. "You promised Yoruichi-san that you wouldn't hurt anyone while you were here." He told his son, as his gaze bore into the him for a brief period of time. "How do you think she is going to react to finding out that you broke that promise?" Isshin was pushing the envelope with the effect of these accusations. But it had become their main source of leverage to actually get him to listen to them, or to get him to do things.

The eldest Kurosaki felt bad about having to go this route, but it was the only way.

They had not found anything else that enabled them to get Ichigo to follow their instructions. He held no true emotions for anyone they knew, so he could not be 'manipulated', by the three ex-Shinigami, into listening to them and abiding by their rules. They had only managed to get him to follow proper etiquette when around the house and a measly promise that he would not harm anybody whilst spending his time here.

"She already knows.." This caught the dark-haired man by surprise.

"Yoruichi kno-"

"She was watching the _spar_.. and she did nothing to stop it.. So I did not stop.." He supplied, with sarcastic emphasis on the word Spar. The rest of the sentence his usual deep, uncaring rumble.

* * *

At the Urahara Shōten the small black cat known as Yoruichi was seen jumping through an open window into the kitchen of that very shop.

She looked around the room to see if she was able to find anyone or anybody that might know were Kisuke was. Seeing the storeowner's assistant, Tsukabishi Tessai. A large, lightly tanned man with small pair of square reading glasses and a dark handlebar moustache, the same dark black that the rest of his hair was, she made her way further inside.

The light pattering of four cat's feet garnered the giant man's attention, causing him to turn around to investigate the source of the sound.

"Yoruichi-dono! You have returned earlier than expected." The bespectacled man called out, his voice strong and full of politeness and respect. Yoruichi glanced around and could not see or sense Kisuke anywhere nearby, then turned her attention to the person who had just addressed her.

"Hey Tessai, I take it Kisuke is still downstairs working?" The cat's masculine voice cut through the short silence. Tessai answered with a polite nod.

"Yes. Boss is still down in the training area at the moment and is nearly finished with the modified Senkaimon. Did you wish to see him?" The behemoth of a man asked and answered.

"Yeah, I've some urgent matters to talk to the idiot about. Mind getting the door for me? I really can't be bothered changing into my human form." She answered back.

"Of course, Yoruichi-dono!" He spoke with a short bow, before turning to exit the kitchen into the next room and the onyx feline followed after.

They walked down the short hallway and entered a second room where a large trapdoor-like hatch was seen bolted to the floor. Tessai walked over and with a quick tug swung it wide open for Yoruichi to jump down. Since it dropped completely vertically several hundred feet, the only normal way down would be the massive ladder that descended down the side of the wall into the bowels of the underground basement. However, being not a normal person allowed her to completely ignore this factor and just effortlessly fall down and land lightly on the dirt floor that lay beneath.

Stalking slowly through the barren grounds, Yoruichi made her way over to where she could vaguely see her childhood friend working loudly on the Senkaimon, what he was doing exactly, she didn't have the foggiest idea. More than likely something involving highly precise or complex Kidō, things too complicated for her to worry about and even if she did care about them they would most likely just go right over her head.

"Hey, Kisuke!" The small cat shouted from her perch atop a large rock next to the blonde-haired man eliciting a small jump of fright from him.

"Oh, Yoruichi-san! I didn't expect you back so early!" He announced almost cheerfully, as he turned away from the work that he was currently doing. "So how was visiting your 'mate', hmm? You didn't do anything naughty and had to run before Isshin found out, did you?" A cheeky smile visible below the brim of his bucket hat. This comment got him four clawed feet right to the face, as she leapt to ravage his image with her those clawed paws.

"Shut it, you geta-wearing pervert!" She dropped back to the ground next to him and watched him nursed a reddened and slightly blood face, a small tear gathering in the corner of his eye, to which she shook her head and begun telling him what she had seen while spying on the young-adult.

"Ahhh, so he met with young Arisawa-san and Inoue-chan. How did they react to him?" Urahara asked, now seated and slowly fanning himself as he talked to Yoruichi who was sitting opposite him.

"Well considering Inoue didn't know Ichigo before he was taken, she didn't really have any reaction to him, other than getting all flustered and embarrassed that he was only dressed in a towel and was still wet from the shower, which he had just gotten out of-" She quickly shut her mouth, not intending to divulge that much information. Her friend, however, had already caught her in the process and was now smile brightly behind that stupid fan of his.

"And you call me the pervert Yoruichi-san! Hehehe. So, what about Arisawa-san?" He asked, the smile still stubbornly plastered on his face, even with the glare that the small neko was shooting at him.

"Don't you start Kisuke." She growled out. "_Sigh_.. She was happy that he was back and was also momentarily embarrassed, but not nearly as much as Inoue. She also seemed to appear accepting that Ichigo had changed and had even offered to spar with the young man, like they used to." She saw the shopkeeper immediately stiffen at this fact.

"And? How did the fight go? You didn't have to interrupt him, did you?" The man asked and got a shake of the head in return.

"No, I didn't, but I was very close to stopping it. It was a 'spar', so It kind of meant he was exempt from the promise he made me." She told him, her voice slightly shaken.

"So, how did it turn out? I would imagine the fight was a sight to behold, since you did mention that Arisawa-san was around the strength of a mid-tier Fukutaichō" Urahara asked, his interest having been peaked.

"It was not so much of a spar, as it was an utter beat down." This got a raised eyebrow from the bucket-hat wearing man. Yoruichi continued to elaborate. "He managed to beat Tatsuki unconscious with two punches. She had severely underestimated him and paid the price for doing so." She spoke, a small cat frown apparent on her face.

"I take it that Ichigo did not come out unharmed?" Urahara questioned, outwardly not reacting to this information. His friend was rarely ever this serious about issues such as a one-sided fight. And that had him slightly on edge. He wasn't worried by any means and he doubted she was as well, but, he was just.. unnerved that she was taking what had happened so seriously.

"Yeah, Arisawa-san had managed to get in quite a few hits to the chest, they didn't really do anything, aside from making Ichigo more prepared for the hits that would be thrown at him. She did however, manage to get a Reiryoku enhanced kick in, right before she passed out." Yoruichi answered.

"And? How did that turn out?" Asked the geta-wearing storeowner. His friend had told him of the results of the training he had given the girl while he had been training Isshin's daughter himself and knew that the dark-haired nineteen year old was not somebody to just brush off as non-threatening towards a Shinigami or Hollow, because she was far from it.

"She partially broke the arm that Ichigo had blocked with." She ignored Kisuke's slightly bewildered look. "It wasn't a full strength kick, but something that had that much power behind it would have severely crippled a lesser Shinigami like an unseated division member. But the kid just stood there and took it as if it were nothing." She finished.

This was beginning to further agitate the already rather distrubing situation. The boy was getting to be too unpredictable. Even Kisuke, who was usually on top of these kind of things and knew what was going on, was completely stumped by Ichigo. He was powerful, that much was obvious, being able to make Yoruichi exert herself and her energy to just restrain him was a incredible feat in and of itself and being capable of knocking out a Fukutaichō-class fighter was just the icing on the metaphorical cake. But they couldn't figure out how powerful he was.

They were still not willing to get him to reveal the Reiatsu he was keeping hidden from them at this current time. At a time this close to invading Soul Society it would be an bad, the possibility of alerting the twelfth division's sensor wards to a unknown, suddenly appearing, possible Taichō-level, Reiatsu, was just a horrible idea.

The two who were sitting opposite each other in the underground training area knew that with the growth rate he had as a child Ichigo would more than likely have a level of Reiatsu of around a low-tier Taichō and that hypothesis seemed to only be backed up by the fact that he had learned to utilise it while he had been with his second family, the Yautja, and then proceeded to beat his ex-best friend, Tatsuki, into submission with that utilisation.

"Also, Isshin wasn't lying in the least about Ichigo-kun's healing ability." The black cat added. and Kisuke raised a hidden brow.

"Oh, You wouldn't by any chance be suggesting that he actually does have some kind of Instant Regeneration, Yoruichi-san?" His particularly troubled musings changing to a more interested and curious train of thought.

"That I am, Kisuke." She basically droned out, It was just one more variable to factor into the problem that was Kurosaki Ichigo. "His arm hadn't broken completely in half. Arisawa-san had only managed to break it partially and so Ichigo, being the emotionless slab of muscle that he is, broke it the rest of the way and reset the damn thing. Not once did he flinch, though there was a slight frown of something that was more like concentration, not pain. Like he was focusing on keeping his arm aligned." Yoruichi got out.

Urahara just stared at her for a while, a frown of thought marring his features.

"Do you believe that he really could have a inner hollow who is providing the regenerative powers?" Urahara asked after a few silent moments.

"No. I saw it heal before my eyes, and that wasn't something that came from a hollow, Kisuke." The cat began. "He wouldn't have needed to reset his broken arm if it was, the healing process would've put it back into place for him if it was hollow based. Ichigo's was more like a hyper-enhanced version of the natural healing that human's have." She reasoned, as Kisuke retained his thoughtful stare, after several minutes of even more silence Yoruichi asked him what was on his mind.

"It's nothing really," The shopkeeper replied ponderously, waving his fan in front of his face. Yoruichi had a feeling she was not liking where this was about to go, judging by his sudden change in attitude. "Just that, I'm almost inclined to ask Ichigo-_kun_ to accompany the five of you to the Soul Society, if only to provide an increased chance of success " She was correct in assuming that she wouldn't like his answer..

"What! Are you crazy, Kisuke?! You're already on thin ice with Isshin for allowing his daughter to invade the Seireitei. And now you're thinking about sending his son as well?!" Yoruichi yelled at him, clawing at his face again. It may have been an over-reaction and that he was not being serious, but she realised that he had caught her using the -kun suffix outside of interaction with Ichigo and felt the need to punish him for it.

"Ara, Yoruichi-san there was no need for that! It was merely just a suggestion. Besides, I wouldn't want to risk your new boy toy getting into trouble or going on a rampage through the Rukongai, now would we?" Kisuke said with a cheeky smile and the small tear in his eye returning from the pain that was stinging his face.

Yoruichi let out a cat-like growl, in annoyance, due to the eccentric scientist's action but did agree nonetheless, it would be a bad idea to even let Ichigo near the Soul Society and in fact, it was probably a bad idea to even bring up the existence of the place while around him in the first place.

* * *

_Return to current time._

"Ahh! So we're all finally here!" Kisuke, the irate shopkeeper cheered as he saw the final person arrive in the desert-like interior of the underground training room underneath the Urahara Shōten.

Said person was Kurosaki Karin, who currently had a disgruntled look upon her face as she took her time pacing towards the gathering of people before her.

"Hey, it's not my fault that Goat-chin stalled me just so he could get in some 'Last minute training'! Seriously, who attacked their daughter when she's trying to eat breakfast? Also, Yuzu tried to puppy-eye's me into not going, so I had to run before I stared at them for too long." She tried to reason her lateness. Most everyone present just shook their head in acknowledgement, knowing that Yuzu's puppy-dog eyes were a force to be reckoned with.

Karin stopped in front of her two friends, Inoue Orihime and Arisawa Tatsuki, or big sisters as she had come to calling them when nobody else was around. And her one male 'acquaintance', Ishida Uryū, whom Karin had picked up around halfway through her time with the short Kuchiki noble, when he had tried to challenge her to a 'Hollow killing contest' and ended up nearly flooding the town with the masked beasts as well as actually managing to attract a Menos Grande as the short raven-headed girl had called it.

Each one of the three friends were dressed in their own special attire.

Inoue was wearing a dark red, short-sleeved t-shirt that clung tightly to her large bust and seemed to outline her curvy upper-body perfectly. And on her lower-half she wore a long, ankle-length skirt, that was coloured purple and had a wide red stripe going from the bottom of her skirt up to her waist. In her hair were two clips on either side of her head, just above the temple. Both of them had a small flower attached, that seemed to almost glow with a kind of stunning beauty.

Arisawa had gear that was definitely more fit for combat. She wears black, skin-tight singlet and long tights, underneath a dark, silver vest that had sleeves that only went to the elbow. On her feet were a pair of grey, shin high leather shoes and fitted onto her fisted were a pair of bright red MMA gloves, but instead of the nice soft padding over the knuckles, it was thick and hardened leather, designed to only further increase the damage done by the punches that were to be thrown.

And Ishida was wearing stark white clothing comprised of dress pants and a dress shirt. They were neatly ironed and pressed and were put together with a white mantle that was draped over his upper-torso and fell just below knee length, acting as a cape. And on his right hand was a long glove. White, of course, but it also had a large blue cross emblazoned on it.

The Kurosaki girl herself wears a standard Shinigami Shihakushō, made up of a black Kosode and a pair of black Hakama pants. Finished off with a pair of white Tabi and traditional straw Waraji. The only thing that set her apart from other Soul Reapers uniform's was the pale-blue Obi tried around her waist. Tucked into the Obi was a Katana, or rather, her Zanpakutō. It's long, dark-blue -almost purple looking- sheath was bound tightly at her hip, to the left within the grasps of the sky-coloured sash. Her Zanpakutō's tightly wrapped black hilt protruded from her waist, openly displaying the intricately designed, crescent-shaped Tsuba. And tied to the end of the hilt was a thin, white string with a small, shining, silver sleigh bell dangling freely next to the grip of the blade.

Turning to face Urahara, who was waiting patiently while each person gave their own varied greeting to the Kurosaki that was now standing with them, Karin nodded towards him to get started with whatever he had to do.

"Alright! Now that we are all here, we can begin!" Kisuke announced cheerily, gaining everyone's attention.

Ichigo watched as this mess of human _warriors_ listened to Kisuke talk, for several minutes, about something called 'Kishi' and 'Reishi' and how only souls can move around in this 'Soul Society'. The camouflaged late-teen stood silently above all of them, as he waited for them to start their pitiful attempt at rescuing some helpless woman's life.

The armour-clad fighter had found out about his sister going on a mission to some other dimension soon after arriving home. His birth father had been shouting and acting like a damn newborn youngling around Karin, thinking that the hunter was out of earshot. Isshin had revealed to him, unintentionally, that she was going on a rescue mission to save some girl called Rukia and that the man, Kisuke, was helping her, thinking that only Yuzu would be the one to find out this new information.

So, during the hours of the gradually rising sun, when Karin had begun to get ready, he had re-attached his armour to his body and had left, heading straight towards the shōten where he knew that man would be. He did not care about staying at that home, or leaving those people behind, he had felt cramped up in the house, everything was so small compared to the space cruiser that he had been living on with Mother Masa and Dark Knife.

And hearing about the opportunity to start his hunt anew, he instantly took the chance.

The season to hunt the Shinigami was soon to come, and he would bathe in their blood as he carved lines through their bodies and shot holes through their heads. The voice in his mind, that had been silent since the start of his excursion to earth, was starting to stir at the possibility of armed combat and seemed to only be trying to urge him to start killing even faster. He was more than happy to oblige.

Judging by the strength of the child bearer he had fought, he had to guess that the Shinigami would be relatively the same strength, if not stronger and the prospect of such a battle was getting him heated and his blood pumping. He longed to kill something. These pitiful human prey from his 'home town' were nothing frightened animals, incapable of posing even the slightest threat to him and would give worthless trophies. But these Shinigami, these Reapers of Souls, were starting to sound like they were worthy prey. If the fight with that Tatsuki girl was anything to go by his opponents would be strong and his kills would be honourable.

Watching the now six people and one cat, he sat waiting. His body perfectly silent and absolutely motionless, the result of having been of several hundred hunts that required him to be as so.

These humans were so ill-prepared for the coming fights that he had ran the idea of just killing them now, to save them the torture of realising their imminent failure, through his mind. But upon seeing the small black cat, that he knew was Yoruichi, he had refrained himself from doing so. He would keep his promise to that dark-skinned woman, who had said she would be a future mate, if it meant that she would not be infuriated with him. She had not, however, asked him to bring no harm the 'souls', as they were now known to him as, so he found no problem with doing so.

Seeing some commotion happened down below he focused his attention solely on them again. It sounded like it was nearing the beginning of the massacre that was soon to come.

Dead Eye watched silently as the hat-wearing man walked over to the tall, rectangular object that was looming over all of them and the giant shop-assistant next to him did the same. Only, he went to the opposite side of it.

"You're going to have to run the moment the Senkaimon has opened!" The strawberry blonde teen overheard Kisuke call out to the four children and the cat. He got himself into a stance in preparation to jump down there the moment they moved, and waited. Urahara and his assistant began funnelling their power into the gate and shouted for them to all go, it was the signal that Ichigo needed and he launched his body from the spot he had been standing on, displacing the loose gravel and rock beneath his feet. Stealth didn't matter.

Kisuke was focused on the task that he and Tessai were required to do for the four children and his childhood friend to be able to pass through the Senkaimon and enter into the realm of the dead. But a crashing of rock and stone from above them startled him. He gazed over his shoulders to see the falling debris tumbling down the small outcrop of rock next to where they had all been standing and his eyes widened slightly at the strange event. It was the crunching and cracking of rock in front of his gate that truly brought his attention to the fact that something was going on that shouldn't be.

Not a second after the noisy crackle of power from the converter attached to the Senkai Gate had stopped, that another one was heard. Somebody else had followed them!

Looking to where the sound of crushed rock had come from, Kisuke's eyes lit up in morbid realisation. There, not a few feet from his current position was the large indentation of a boot print it's size only belonging to one person that he knew he wasn't able to sense.

Ichigo had been here the whole time.. He had followed his sister.. And judging by the depth of the foot print he landed very heavily.. Meaning he was fully armed.. Urahara Kisuke's eyes looked grim and wide with horrifying fright. Ichigo must have heard them talking about the Souls and the Shinigami. And so now, he had a free pass to do whatever he liked within the Soul Society as his promise only covered those within the town of Karakura.

The Shinigami would not be able to trace him via their Reiatsu sensors and they would not be able to find him if he didn't want to be found. There would be nothing that they could do.. Unless Yoruichi found him! Oh, Kami.. She has to know about this and find him. Or else this was going to be a bloodbath and a slaughter-fest.

A loud and angry shouting in the distance brought him out of his sickening reverie. And he stood and turned to face the man causing such a ruckus. Isshin. He was looking angry and worried at the same time as he sprinted full-speed towards Geta-Bōshi.

"Kisuke! Where is my son!? He is not at home and the armour he had with him is gone!" He screamed, questioning the bucket-hat-wearing man.

This man brought his shaking hand up in front of his face and spread out the fan that was in that hand's quivering grasp. He was going to be in a lot of trouble..

"Ahhh, Kurosaki-san! I, _eheh,_ maaaay have some bad news." Kisuke told the man, who was currently boring a hole through his head with the glare he was sending him. A _lot _of trouble.

* * *

_Several thousand miles above the earth's atmosphere._

A loud series of ringing beeps echoed through one of the main control rooms of the Yautja space-cruiser. A large, scaled hand silenced the obnoxious noise and quickly brought up a display of the large glowing earth. The image had several brightened spots scattered across the entirety of it, but the main focus was on the flickering light that was centred over a large archipelago on the east side of a massive continent of exposed land.

Some unknown text and writing scrolled out next to the flashing dot written in some undecipherable launguage. It was certainly not of human origin in any way.

Loud agitated clicking and grunting came from the Yautja occupants of the room, finally the strongest of the voices broke through.

":TELL HER HIGHNESS IMMEDIATELY! NOW! YOU PAUK!:" The being roared, it's voice a lot more harsh and withered compared to the others. The person was the Elder who had personally seen their little Ooman off to his hunt in his homeland. This information that they had received did not bode well for any of them.

Masa sat in her living space that she shared with her beloved son, Dead Eye. It felt empty without his presence here, his being to keep her company and his natural, musky male scent floating in the air. A sharp metallic knock rung from her door she immediately stood, angered by the filth with the gall to interrupt her at such a time.

":Enter, speak before I have you killed! Or leave now and die later!:" She growled, as the automated door to her dwelling slid open, revealing two absolutely frightened Youngbloods. Understandable, considering how much higher she was compared to them in social position and also how much stronger she was than both of them put together.

":Your Highness!:" One of them clicked out, as the other handed her something that looked not too different from the wrist computers that the hunter's wear. She took it and they backed down, dropping to a knee and slamming an arm across their chest. As she turned to machine on, showing the message that had been displayed to the room of Yautja, not several minutes ago.

In her rage of seeing the news, Mother Masa grabbed her decorative, but no less lethal, Glaive that was resting in a wall mount and swung it at the top of one of the messengers heads. Which instantaneously caved in. The body, on which it was attached to, immediately went limp and slamming into the hard, metal ground, causing the bright, fluorescent green blood to leak and seep all over the floor.

":What will you order, Your Highness?!:" The still alive Yautja asked weakly, but in a loud and clear tone. Masa creased her spiky eyebrow and glared straight at the Youngblood.

":We will wait seven moons! If Dead Eye's signal does not return, I will hunt my son down myself return him to the clan! And if he is dead. We glass the planet!:"

* * *

_**And so the hunt begins!**_

_**Sweet, hope you all enjoyed that. I finally started the invasion. In the next chapter there is going to be some blood! Hahaha! Also, sorry if you were expecting it to be straight into the violence, I kind of wanted to smooth out the ending to the last chapter. but if all of a sudden Ichigo was already fighting Kenpachi it would be weird, So i'm building it up and not throwing it at your face.**_

_**Alright, again. Sorry about the delay. Things came up and yeah.. The chapters are you to be slightly less frequent. like one every week or two instead of like, every four or five days. With my job I just don't have the time to do that much writing, that often.**_

_**I used some Yautja dialect this chapter. Pauk - Some kind of explective. And Ooman - Man/Human.**_

_**Reviews! (possible future spoilers):**_

_**friaku: **His personality is extremely similar to that of the 11th captain and that will come into play later when they meet :D. Yeah, you call it respect. or maybe satisfaction? Thanks for the kind words!_

**_Zaralann:_**_ Thanks! Also, to answer your question. Yes, he could have. But, he was not wearing his mask. His wrist computer is more for just being a bomb and a control panel for managing his power. Hope that helped._

**_IchigoMoonCutter: _**_Hahah, thanks man! it enjoyed writing the fight but feared it may have not been long or good enough._

_**elitenoob100: **Sorry to say, but, he is going to stay cold for basically the entire story, he may warm up to some people, but not likely any humans or his genetic family.  
_

**_talonjay:_**_ Yes. Yes he will._

**_lajoie21:_**_ I thoroughly enjoyed this review.. if that's what it was. haha._

**_SeanHicks4: _**_Thanks for the review as always. With this story I'm trying to be as real as possible and think about every aspect of each combatant. So yeah, their wont be some giant DBZ-esque fights going down when ichigo is involved. He is there to hunt and kill and that's what you're going to get. Nothing more, nothing less._

**_Guest:_**_ I believe that may have answered your question about the promise. Also, Sorry, needed to round up the "Reunion Arc" the real action starts next chapter._

**_Archmagelite2000yrs: _**_Shhhhhh, Just roll with it. :D_

**_Voidblade6: _**_Oh, how I am beginning to love your reviews Hahaha. Sorry about the massive wait broski, It must have been agonising :(_

**_OverDemon: _**_Sigh... I have been fearing the day someone asked this question. Normally, I like to have reasoning and an explanation for everything that goes on. But this is just one aspect that I really couldn't come up with a reasonable excuse for. So I will say that along with the Xenomorphic-acid-blood resistance it also allows the damaging of spirits like you mentioned in reason 3. Also, I have plans for Ichigo and the Net-gun and some helpless shinigami hehehehhehe._

**_Crimson Beserker: _**_Haha, I don't think I would be able to write an entire story with Ichigo having the amount of emotions as Ulquiorra. And Zanpakutou? I have big plans for the process of giving him it (it will involve K.Z.) and I'm most likely going to be making it a Whip in Shikai. or something along those lines._

**_So, I broke 100 reviews, 100 follows, about to reach 100 favourites and have now over 10,000 views on this story. HOLY SHIT! THANK YOU ALL!_**

**_- Gorgantuan_**


	12. As Blood Spills

_**Okay, not much to say this time other than I got my first fan-art! Kaka-she Gladiator was kind enough to take the time to draw what she believes Ichigo in this FF looks like. And I must say: it's pretty damn accurate and very well done! So shout out to her. (There will be a link on my profile)**_

_**I get think I get pretty graphic in this chapter, so just a heads up.**_

* * *

"So. This is the Dangai, huh?" Karin thought aloud, as she looked around the dark tunnel that was the Dangai Precipice World. It's sludgy-looking, purple and black walls giving the place a weird, gloomy feeling. "Kinda creepy." The Shinigami girl finished. She honestly didn't know what to expect from a place that was the partition between two dimensions and obviously the others didn't as well judging by the looks of wonder and amazement that were stuck on their faces.

"Stop getting distracted! The Kōryū is going to start closing up on us! So, Run!" The black cat shouted at the four kids who were just standing around observing the realm in which they had just entered. Thankfully they had enough sense to listen to the neko-woman and stopped their dawdling and run off in a sprint, right behind her.

The five of them had been running for a couple of minutes, completely unaware of the sixth person that was already partaking in their sprint through the Dangai, when Ishida turned his head to look behind him to see that the walls of the passageway that they had just been running down were now closed up, like Yoruichi had told them they would, and that the falling walls were gaining on them.

"It's catching up to us! We've got to hurry!" Ishida shouted to the rest of the group who each couldn't help but look back to see that it was now only a few dozen feet behind them and gaining.

Yoruichi snarled under her breath in annoyance. Were these kids trying to get themselves killed? Did they not listen to her saying _not _to get distracted? Maybe if they were as attentive as Ichigo they would have listened.

"If you all have time to look behind you, then you can run faster!" She shouted angrily, getting their attention back to the task at hand. Which Yoruichi was thankful for, but still mildly upset that she even had to get their minds back on track in the first place.

A distant rumbling could be heard from behind all of them and they continued their hasty advancement, but paid no attention to said noise. It was only until several moments later when the rumbling had become a great majority louder and a bright glowing light had begun to shine upon their backs.

Taking a chance, his curiosity getting the better of him again, Uryū decided to look back once more and saw something that instantly startled them. A gigantic train-like being, barrelling at incredible speeds straight towards all of them.

"Wha-What the hell is that!?" He screamed out over the increase volume of noise with a stutter from the shock of the thing's sudden appearance.

"That's the Kōtotsu! It's like the Janitor for the Dangai and comes through every seven days to clean up Souls wandering or lost in the Precipice World! We need to hurry, quickly!" Yoruichi answered the bespectacled man's question, then ordered the group to pick up the pace again. 'Why today, of all the days!?' The tiny, running cat thought with no little amount of annoyance.

"It's gaining on us! What'll happen if we get caught!?" Karin asked in a panic this time, after realising that the gap between them and the Kōtotsu was growing smaller very quickly, with every passing moment.

"It'll sweep you into the Kōryū and you'll be stuck, suspended and stuck between dimensions forever, until you die, or are thrown out at some random time and killed during the process! Now, stop asking questions and run! The exit is just up ahead!" True to her word, they could see the glowing square of light that was the exit end of the Senkaimon that they had came through only a short distance ahead of them. Yoruichi was so focused on the goal ahead, it was the only reason that she managed to pick out the shimmering human-shaped distortion of light standing right dead-centre in the exit doorway.

'What... What is that?' She internalised, completely befuddled by the strange figure standing in their way. Until she remembered..

* * *

_Yoruichi stopped on top of a small building to look around and try find him. When she felt something hard knock against her side she immediately flinched and leapt away as force of habit and self preservation from her time as the Commander of the Onmitsukidō._

_Looking around, she strained her eyes to see what had hit her and it wasn't until she noticed the deformation of the light from the nearby street lamps that she had actually managed to see that there was somebody right next to her. Realising that it was Ichigo, Yoruichi gave him a wary glance before they continued, with Yoruichi taking the lead._

* * *

'No! No, no, no, no, no! What is Ichigo doing here!? He should be back at home!' The cat was screaming in her mind. Ichigo was standing there, camouflaged before them and apparently waiting for them. At least, that's what she was guessing. 'Dammit! If he gets loos-' Yoruichi started, but cut herself off and she saw three bright red lines project themselves from about his head height and were directed straight behind them.

A second after, a surge of bright-blue plasma erupted from his shoulder and tore over their heads, instantly causing a loud detonation of smouldering, liquidised gas and energy to ensue right behind to their backs. This was immediately repeated three more times, each shot just as bright, vibrant and equally lethal and devastating as the first one.

A loud, monstrous groan boomed through the inter-dimensional cavern, further startling the four teens and the were-cat.

Yoruichi dared to look behind her to see what exactly was going on. Turning her head she looked around to gaze at the Kōtotsu and was greatly surprised what she saw.

The 'Janitor' had several, large, burnt-out holes gouged into the front of it. The light on the front of the Kōtotsu had dimmed slightly from taking a direct hit, by the looks of the fading scorch marks around the place where the light was coming from. But that wasn't what had surprised her the most upon looking back. It had lost some ground on them and by the speed that it was catching up to them now, it had also slowed down from taking the hits from Ichigo's weapon. It would however still catch up to them if they weren't now only ten short feet away from the exit.

Yoruichi now noticed that Ichigo's shape was no longer in the way of the door out of the Dangai and her eyes shot open wide with shock.

'Dammit!' She mentally scalded herself. 'I should've kept him in my sights! Stupid Yoruichi!' She seethed, admonishing herself for her momentary distraction. That lack of concentration and focus had now caused her to lose sight of Ichigo and now he had gotten away from her and would be free to roam the afterlife.

* * *

The moment Ichigo had entered the "Dangai Precipice World" as the humans and Kisuke had called it, he had immediately started running through the darkened abyss, leaving the small party of weak fighters and apparent his mate-to-be, according to Yoruichi herself, behind in his wake. Why those humans were just standing around was beyond him. They had been told they only had four minutes to get through this passage. Was their attention span so miniscule that they instantly forgot the very thing that they had been told, not a few seconds before entering this place?

Maybe he should have killed them..

As he reached the end in no time at all, he paused as he stood before the blaringly bright doorway to the Society of Souls. He turned back to look the way he had just come from and saw that the group that were trailing far behind him had actually chosen to run and were now only several hundred feet behind him, some giant moving object following very closely behind.

As they neared he could hear Yoruichi shouting out something about being swept away into time if they were caught by the entity that was right on their tails (both literally and figuratively). But not a second after she had finished talking he noticed that the cat had its eyes glued directly on him, even though his active camouflage was on and working, he still wasn't truly faded from all visible existence. Certain light conditions would allow for a more defined outline, therefore making him more visible.

He could almost hear her thoughts screaming through his head. Her expression, even in her animal form, betrayed her emotions. Her usual cheeky grin or bored expression, that she tended to wear while around him, displayed and showed nothing but confusion, shock and horror.

Deciding he did not want his future bedmate to be killed by the thing chasing her before she could even attempt this 'rescue' of one of their friends, he chose to be lenient towards the life of these weaker-bodied humans and at least attempt so kind of some gesture of benevolence. If only for Yoruichi's sake.

In an instant his Plasma-Caster was armed, aimed and firing its molten projectiles over the heads of the people who were running directly towards him. The moment he saw them impact and explode, causing the giant being to elicit a deafening groan of apparent pain, he turned back to the portal and took that final step through, followed very closely by the five people who had been just about to run straight into him, had he still been standing in the same place.

* * *

"What the hell was that back there, Yoruichi!" A shaken Kurosaki Karin shouted at the feline who was sitting next to her, eyes glancing to the nearby roof tops and alleyways of the small village that they had dropped into consequent to their exit into the Soul Society.

The moment they had ran out of the Precipice World they had expected to be running onto solid ground. But instead, they had ended up coming out a good eighty feet in the air and had instantly began a very panicked fall. It was only due to Inoue's quick thinking that they had managed to not descend the whole way without something to slow them down before they slammed into the ground and possibly broke an arm or a leg. The busty girl had used her shield ability, Santen Kesshun, to act as a form of cushion before they hit the ground at the fast speed that they were dropping.

When the shield had caught them all mid-involuntary-flight she softly brought them to the ground and let it dissipate a couple of inches above the dirt path they had come out over.

"Sorry, I guessed I should have warned you that we may end up in mid-air like that." Yoruichi answered Karin's semi-vague question, even though she knew exactly what the dark-haired girl was talking about, Yoruichi was pointedly trying to divert the questioning away from what Karin was trying to get her tell them, as she was unwilling to reveal what had actually just transpired for fear of causing Ichigo's sister to lose focus of the goal ahead and try to find her brother to make sure that he is safe and out of harm's way.

"I'm not talking about us appearing in the middle of the air! I was talking about those blue things and the explosions! What the hell was it? Some kind of defence system?!" Karin snapped at Yoruichi. Who, much to her annoyance, was still glancing around their immediate vicinity, blatantly ignoring her. Something was up and Karin had a feeling that Yoruichi knew what was going on. Urahara-san had not said anything about explosions or balls of glowing, blue, exploding lights being shot at them before they made their exit.

Then again. Geta-Bōshi had always been kinda vague, never giving a straight answer or justified reasoning instantaneously. But the man always had some kind of reasoning behind his methodical madness. Like for the training to recover her destroyed Shinigami powers; Karin had almost gone ballistic when the man had cut her Chain of Fate, but it turned out that it was a necessary step in recovering those lost powers. If her soul was still attached to her human body, she wouldn't have been unable to restore the gift that Rukia had bestowed upon her to be able to save her twin, Yuzu, along with Tatsuki and Orihime, from the Hollow that had attacked her house many months ago.

"I too am intrigued by whatever had been fired at us." The neatly dressed male, Ishida Uryū, spoke out. "They seemed to have been composed of Reishi, much like the arrows my bow fires. However, unlike my arrows, they had some kind of, for-lack-of-a-better-word, energy holding it together.." His diagnosis of the blue bolts of 'Reishi-infused energy' confused the other four around him slightly. He just shook his head in exasperation. That was the most simplest way he could put what little information he had garnered from the oh-so brief interaction with the projectile that had been fired over them.

"Uhh, yeah, who cares about they were made of? I just want to know what fired them and if we have to come up against more of them. Because I'm going to tell you now: it's not going to be fun have to defend against something hot enough to ignite my clothing from fifteen feet away." Tatsuki said, turning around to show her back to everyone, which caused the other three in human form to flinch. The silver jacket she was wearing, her black tights and the sleeves on the back of her arms were burnt and charred black. The flesh underneath exposed, showing bright red patches of skin with painful-looking first -almost second- degree burns.

"Ahh! Tastuki-chan! You're hurt!" Orihime cried out in worry for her best friend's health and in an instant she had covered the black-haired karate champion in the healing orange bubble of her Sōten Kisshun.

"Thanks, Orihime. But you don't have to heal me, it only stings a little." In complete contradiction to what she had just said; Tatsuki winced harshly as she jostled the fabric stuck to her lightly blistered flesh and cursed quietly under her breath.

"See, you're hurt Tatsuki-chan and that proved me right! Now please hold still for a minute." The auburn-haired girl chided. To which the girl grunted indignantly and allowed herself to be healed.

Karin turned away from the scene and turned back to Yoruichi, who's attention was still concentrated elsewhere. On what exactly, she had no clue.

"Hey, Yoruichi, you still haven't answered us yet.." there was a pause and then an angry muttering about something being 'gone'. "Heeyyyy? Did you hear us Yor-" She tried to get the cat's attention, when it interrupted her.

"Yes, I heard you!" She half shouted in her form's masculine tone, sending a glare over her shoulder at the same time. "To answer your question.. N-no, I don't know what that was and Kisuke would have told me about it if he knew it would be there.." Divulged Yoruichi. Though, to Karin, her voice sounded uncertain and the little stutter as she replied suggested that she was unsure about the answer that she was about to give, or was about to second guess herself.

"Right... Uhh, anyway.. Where to from here?"

* * *

Crouched down atop a small building Ichigo had watched the five others exit the Dangai and then stand around to converse loudly after they reached the ground safely. These people would be as worthless in a hunt as he was when he was younger. And he still failed to see how they would succeed in invading this stronghold of Shinigami successfully.

He could see Yoruichi sitting there, diligently looking around for any sign of him. But he had taken the precautions and positioned himself where his form would be the least visible to any around him. If one were to look from below and up at him, they would see nothing but clear blue sky and if they were to somehow be looking down at him, the highly irregular pattern of the thatched roof would easily conceal and break up the light and lines, of his body, that the Active Camouflage hid him in.

He soon lost the little interest that he had for observing these teenagers. So he turned to around and headed off the towards the large woodland area that appeared several miles away, blocking the horizon.

It was time to start his hunt.

He made his way over the large masses of shoddily built dwellings, his legs vaulting him soundlessly from rooftop to rooftop as his breathing stayed steady and regular.

He was going to go find these 'Shinigami' as they called themselves. He was going to find them and tear the spines from the backs and the skulls from their heads to see.. To see if they are truly are what they call themselves: Death Gods.

When he had changed the visor's display to the in-built Pheromone Vision that his Bio-Mask had, which was the one which he had found capable of detecting the energy radiating off such people such as the five he had just left behind as well as a great majority of the residents of his 'hometown', it had been flooded with extremely copious amounts of power signatures.

Nearly every house around him contained a small cloud of the Reiatsu 'scent'. However, they were minuscule compared to the power that Yoruichi and Kisuke had been producing and so he chose to filter those ones out of his vision, in favour of finding the stronger and more potent energy signatures around him. It would be a waste of his time to hunt these smaller prey.

Taking off again from the short pause he had taken to scan his surroundings to find any possible nearby Shinigami, he ventured towards the forest he had initially been aiming for. There were numerous empowered trails entering into the tree line and they all seemed to be bunched up together and walking in formation. Ichigo's expressionless mask displayed absolutely no emotion aside from the grinning rows of teeth that were carved into its metal and underneath that was an equally impassive stare of emotional depravity. The mouth on that face though, was ever so slowly changing into a slight smile, not at all different than the one he had after attempting to beat Tatsuki's head in during their fight back on Earth.

Maybe this would be the hunt he had been looking for this whole time. The wrestling matches he had with Mother Masa and multiple of the Yautja males were getting to be extremely boring as he had long surpassed them. He may need to be compressing around forty percent of the near-endless ocean of energy his body made to do so, but that was far from his full strength. He never came out of the fights unscathed or uninjured, he would normally always end up with several broken bones and puncture wounds accompanied by deep lacerations but it was never anything permanent; the liquid healing tanks, like the ones he woke up in after his Rite of Passage, always aided to prevent that and to also help with a quick recovery.

So it was now, in this forest, that he would begin shedding Shinigami blood for the pride of his clan and for his honour and that of his Predator family. He would find his prey and he would wait and watch them until sun fall.

Ichigo had always found himself enjoying hunting at night. Perhaps it was the ominous and pale light that was cast by the moon. Or maybe the panic that set's in with his more sentient prey, when they realise that their life was in grave danger and they begin to tremble as they lose themselves in the darkness, allowing him to drive his spear through their chest without them even realising what was happening.

It mattered little.

Ichigo was charging his way silently through the maze of dense forestation. His movements dead-set on following the weaving lines of energy -that were exposed by his Bio-Mask's analytical sensors- to their source. He knew he was closing in on them and that the night was soon to engulf the realm of souls with its eerie darkness. The Pheromone Vision he still had active was revealing multiple sets of footprints in the dirt and the occasional body imprint or hand-shaped scent mark on the side of a tree. His prey were unknowingly causing themselves to be brought to the cold grasp of death even faster with the invisible trail they were leaving for him to follow.

It was a fit of distant, boisterous laughter that finally sent Ichigo up a tree and alerted him to the presence of his target, or rather, targets.

Effortlessly leaping from each of the thicker lower branches without a sound, the camouflaged and practically invisible Ichigo gradually made his way to where the noise had come from. The spacing between the trees increased and the ground below the dark-green canopy began to show patches of grass -grown from the sunlight that's broken through the layers of greenery- instead of fallen twigs and dying leaves.

Reaching the edge of the forest, the metal-encased hunter landed with a final jump on a wide branch with a perfect view of his hunting grounds.

Exposed to a quickly darkening sky above them was a large encampment of cloth huts, bedding and several unlit fires. All in the centre of a massive field of grass, in some clearly random part of the forest.

His Bio-Mask's Pheromone Vision now rendered useless due to the coalescing cloud of energy coming from the large gathering of soldiers. With a shimmer of noise only audible to the waiting predator, the image his mask's visor was showing him changed. It now showed the environment around him in many different shades of blues. The temporary entrenchment of Shinigami though, was lit up with many greens and yellows and the people themselves were bright and vibrant variations of orange, red and white.

Not a single Shinigami was hidden from his view. Their bodies were as clear to him as the full moon in the night's sky would be to those very Shinigami. Even those hidden inside their tents, behind the thick layers of cloth, did not escape his acknowledgement. The heat produced by the men's bodies simply accumulated inside the flimsy housing and ended either, seeping through the entry flap, or heated up the fabric that surrounded them, allowing Ichigo to clearly differentiate between which were and which weren't currently inhabited. He had them all scouted out and the targets' head count was at twelve, including the two tents that were currently occupied.

Now, all he needed to do was wait..

* * *

_Two hours since the sun had gone down and the moon had awoken._

It hadn't been long after the last rays of the sun's light had disappeared that the few, haphazardly placed, fires had been ignited. Bringing much needed warmth and light to spiritually-empowered souls that surrounded them.

The whole group had split-up into several smaller clusters. The largest and loudest being four of them sitting in the inner-most part of the camp, heartily shouting their lungs out as they downed a fetid-smelling, liquid substance from some kind of large, clay vessel. Judging by how they were acting and their sloppy body language. The reaction-time these Shinigami would now have had to now be almost non-existent. They would be worthless trophies and despite the strength they ostensibly all possess and wield, their death will be quick, agonising and inevitable.

Two groups of three were positioned either side of rowdiest four. Each were a good distance away from them, in their own respective directions. The Shinigami sitting at these outer fires were a lot more collected, but were still drinking from the same ceramic vessels as they talked idly amongst themselves. These ones Ichigo knew would be far more of a challenge. They still had control over their body's motor skills and will properly be able to react with appropriate actions.

However, the two within the confines of their temporary housing, which were positioned a much greater distance away from everyone, were still unaccounted for and were both the largest threat and the most dangerous factor to this hunt due to the unpredictability of their circumstance. They would be his last targets if they didn't emerge once the rest of them had started dying. It would be dishonourable of him to kill them off if they happened to be sleeping. To not grant them the opportunity of fair combat is to stain ones honour, as is same if one were to kill the sick or the elderly: They would be incapable of defending themselves and would soon die on their own.

Positioning himself in an tree nearest the most isolated trio of swordsmen the hidden Yautja disciple put the hunt into full swing.

"So, why do you think Tōsen-Taichō sent so many of us after jus' a couple of low level hollows?" Shortest of the three asked the other two as they all watched the most inebriated group push each other around while shouting random obscenities at their squad partners. "I mean, jus' us three could've taken 'em easily. So what's the point in it?" He proclaimed, questioning his Taichō's actions.

"You heard what he said! Reports from Twelfth Division said that there might be more than just those two that we killed, so to be sure we didn't die out here, if there were gonna be more, he sent the new transfers from the Eleventh with us. What little good that did, they just ended up getting in the way and taking all the Sake we brought with us." The second man answered and the shorter brown-haired man just shook his head in annoyance. The Shingami who answered was easily the biggest of the three in regards to muscle. The third person, who was still remaining silent but had a slightly startled look on his face was the tallest of them all, standing a few good inches above the muscle-bound man.

"Hey, Abukara-san, you alright there?" The shortest asked, seeing the disconcerting look on his friend's face.

"C-can you guys not hear that voice?" He asked with a small stutter, his expression now containing a trace amount of confusion, as well as his voice. They just stared at him with raised eyebrows, wondering what the hell he was going on about.

_"... Turn around... "_

"I don't know what the hell you're talking about, I can't hear anything but those loud mouths over there berating each other!" As if to further prove his point, there was a very audible yelp of pain from somebody getting punched in the face, quickly followed by the thump of bodies hitting the ground in the form of a small fist-fight.

"Yeah, I can't hear anything but dem guys over dere as well. You sure you ain't drunk an' jus' imaginin' tings?" The shortest reiterated with a slightly drunken slur.

"I know I'm not drunk yet, so I can't be imagining it.. I can definitely hear somebody in those tree back there talking to me." Abukara rebuked, jabbing a thumb in the general direction of the closest tree line. He knew he could hear a voice calling to him and was getting annoyed by it. He couldn't sense any Reiatsu over there he could clearly hear somebody whispering to him just inside the start of the forest's edge and it was really starting to bug him and admittedly frighten him as well.

_"... Over here... " "... Turn around..."_

"Well, what're they saying, huh?" The middle man questioned, clearly not believing the one taller than him. I mean, who hears voice's these days?

"They're just saying for me to 'turn around' and that they're 'over there'.. " Abukara told them, looking briefly over his shoulder to where the disembodied voice was coming from, then back to his friends, who were now looking at each other. They both suddenly burst out laughing, instantly confusing Abukara.

"Well then, what are you waiting for!? Hahaha! Get going!" The muscular man laughed at him teasingly.

"Eh?!"

"Yeah man, what're you waitin' for? Go an' see what the person wan's!" The shortest and clearly most drunk out of them all repeated. Further coaxing Abukara to go by nudging his leg with the tip of Tabi-clad foot. The man being pressured into going to see who was calling out to him stared at the two, who were edging him towards the voice a millimetre at a time with the ends of their feet.

He let out a annoyed huff and stood up in his spot, falling victim to the peer pressure. This earned him a small cheer from the two still sitting down.

"Fine! I'll go over there! Jeez.." He grumbled loudly. Quickly snatching up his Zanpakutō, that was resting next to his seat by the fire, he sheathed it into his Obi as he proceeded to walk the thirty feet towards the pitch black forest that surrounded his camp.

_"... Over here... "_

He gained a frustrated frown, deeper than the one that was already on his face, as he heard the voice speak again. This had better not be his tipsy imagination messing with his mind or his Zanpakutō spirit playing some kind of creepy trick on him.

Reaching the edge of the woods he paused briefly. Behind him he could hear the two intoxicated men shouting such things like "Go on!" and "Keep walking!" alongside them questioning his 'manliness'. He took a deep breath, then blew it out to relieve some of his pent up tension. The voice had stopped calling to him. So, as he took the last step that put him past the threshold of darkness and led him into the unknown ahead of him, he readied himself for what was to come.

His body was enveloped by eerie blackness of the forest as he made his way a few feet further in. No doubt the two who he had left behind would be unable to see him now and this only made him more wary and nervous than before. Abukara couldn't be sure if the voice he had been hearing was real or not, but this was the only way to find out. He mentally slapped himself for not thinking to bring a source of light with him. He could have easily just picked up one of the longer sticks from within the fire that only had one end alight.

**".. Turn around.. "**

Abukara immediately halted all physical actions.

The voice had completely changed. It had gone from a faint and distant whisper in a throaty, yet calm voice and had altogether morphed into a deep, metallic growl. The most horrifying part was not how real and raw the voice sounded. It was now how close the voice was, instead. It sounded like it was only several paces behind, right where he had just been walking.

He feared to turn around, though, he knew he shouldn't. He was a Shinigami of the Gotei 13; the only real threat to them were hollows and he knew that there were no hollows anywhere near him and their definitely wasn't one behind him for that matter. But still, with the current situation he was in, he couldn't help but let large quantities of trepidation and hysteria spread through his being at the sound of that voice.

Doing what every instinct of his was screaming at him _not_ to do -his Zanpakutō spirit included- he rotated his stiff body to look at who had appeared behind him and produced such a terrifyingly vicious voice.

His eyes finally made it to where the bodiless voice had told him to look. What he saw eased his feeling of dread immediately.

Nothing.

Letting out a loud breath he turned his body completely and stared at the impromptu path he had been walking down. Abukara could see his two friend sitting by the fire, drinking out of their Sake jugs and looking in the direction he had ventured.

Shaking his head, he let a nervous smile play on his lips.

"Heh, maybe I was jus-ACCKHG!" His head instantaneously snapped upwards and his body began rising off the ground as he felt something very thin and metallic being wrung around his neck, his weight only tightening its hold as he slowly rose to become suspended by the throat, the pressure of the binding noose crushing inwards, cutting off all blood flow to and from the head via the veins in his neck. His windpipe was also being clamped down on, disallowing the air to fill his lungs and depriving his brain of much needed oxygen.

As the agonising lift finally came to its apex, he could hear his Zanpakutō spirit crying out to him through his mind as he struggled to stop choking. He had made the stupid move of trying to get the thing around his neck off when he was already a foot above the dirt beneath him and paid the price for it. His fingers were now stuck inside the loop that clung tightly to his seeping neck.

He couldn't reach his Zanpakutō.

He couldn't save his own life from a piece of metal tied just below his jaw line.

Even though his Zanpakutō was sealed he could hear it screaming at him to try everything he could to break free. But it was of no use. He was about to die and he knew it. And he wouldn't even know who or what exactly had been the thing to kill him.

But, prying open his eyelids -that were barely containing his now bulging eyes- for what would be the last time, he searched around him to look for his assailant and saw the last thing that those eyes of his would see in the relatively short life that he had lived.

A pair of glowing, crimson ovals floating before him, each no more than an eye-width apart and no shape or body to speak of.

'So. This fucker has been invisible the whole time.. No wonder I didn't see him..'

He had to guess these were the eyes of his death bringer.. How hauntingly ironic.. Shinigami spent their lives protecting humans from things they cannot see, nor sense.. And saving the souls of the dearly departed from things that wish to kill and consume them.. And here they are.. About to be slaughtered like pigs by something that _they_ could not sense, nor see.. So very, very Ironic..

These were Abukara Akahito's last thoughts as he felt the razor edge of a blade carve through his exposed throat, slashing apart tendons, veins and muscle and cleaving open his oesophagus in one brutally efficient motion.

He was incapable of making any noise as his cadaver's blood poured forth freely from the gaping neck wound. It cascaded down his saturated front, and flowed like a river of red until it reached the lowest point on his body, only to keep flowing and fall to the ground and collect in a sickening puddle of sanguine fluid. This resulted in his practically immediate death.

His body now swung slowly from his strung up position, in permanent suspended animation.

Dead Eye stared emotionlessly as his first kill hung before him. The gradually ripping flesh still attached to what was left of his neck gaped at him like a second mouth, the vile crimson ichor flowing like a flooded creek. The man's head still very much attached to his body by the spinal column, preventing him from taking his reward. However, he would stake his claim to this trophy once he had butchered the rest of them and taken their skulls for his own sake.

* * *

_**So, I'm stopping there because I want this to be a test run of sorts.**_

_**I'm curious how you respond to my "Graphic Violence" and whether it was good enough or too graphic etc. (Don't worry about me cutting the gore short at the end, the next chapter will be mostly violence as I continue)**_

_**Now you may think: Why did you give only one guy a name? **_

_**1. Couldn't be bothered giving the others one **_

_**2. I want you to realise that even though Ichigo may kill some "random" unseated. They are still people in their world, people with names and zanpakutou how care for them and that these "Cannon Fodder" have feelings. Thus making you a little more attached to them and find it effecting you more when they die.**_

_**Also **__**-I have a progress bar on my profile for chapters. - Yes the Pheromone Vision things is real, it's from "Predators", I just modified it.**_

_**REVIEWS:**_

_**friaku: **Thanks for all the kind words my friend! And the trophy proof thing? I have something planned. And the bodies disintegrating? I don't think dead shinigami disappear, or at least their 'bodies' don't (I think). Their spiritual power does though so maybe that's the part that fuels the reincarnation?_

**_Zaralann: _**_Nights. Sorry, could see why you would think months._

**_ShadowCat444: _**_No, glass was intentional. Like when stuff is superheated and it turns to obsidian. But blast does work also :D_

**_Guest:_**_ I'm going to be frank. Chad is going to have no appearance in this and is probably dead... And since I had started this before I caught up with the manga I won't be involving "HIM" in this._

**_Arai Kaji:_**_ Oh, I have plans for Omaeda. Heheheh.. (answered the zanpakutou thing in many reviews just look around)_

**_Voidblade6:_**_ I do apologise for having to wait this out AND having to drag me back from hell. It was getting quite.. unsettling down their._

**_OverDemon: _**_Yeah, he hunted them somewher in the three-part chapter as his Rite of Passage. tbh I don't think i'm going to go into the branding clan symbol thing, sorry if this displeases you, it's just that it's something that I didn't really think of when starting this and that Ichigo didn't really have time to brand himself._

**_talonjay: _**_No. no he wont._

_**Lucas Bane: **That was an interesting read. Out of character, but highly interesting.. I may partially steal the report idea from that for later.. ehehe :D  
_


	13. The Body Count Grows

A loud shouting and heavily falling footsteps brought Ichigo's attention away from the partially mutilated corpse hanging in front of him by the noose-wire it's neck was caught in.

The two that had been seated next to the small, blazing fire were now sprinting towards his and his prize's position within the dark forest. Their faces were showing that they were very alert and extremely worried, most likely for the safety of their friend. But how did they know he was dead? He knew they couldn't have seen him and they definitely didn't hear him, as his victim and soon to be trophy had made nearly no noise, aside from the quiet, strangled, choking sound he produced as he slowly suffocated to death.

So how had these two known? Was it that they had some kind of monitor implanted in each one of them? Or possibly a sort of instinctual sense, like that of the animals he had hunted before he had suited with his Wrist-Computer and Active Camouflage system? It was that that was what seemed most probable, he did remember Kisuke talking about not being able to sense anything coming from him.

So, was it not something that just the green and white-hat-wearing man could do? It was a ability shared by all Shinigami.

But that still didn't answer how they knew he had died, or how they knew something had happened to him. Though, now was not the time to be processing idle thoughts and trying to solve hunt-altering complications, it was time to kill.

"Abukara-san! Abukara-san!?" The slightly more cognitive of the two black-clad men shouted. "Damn it, Akahito! What's going on?! Where are you!?" The muscle-bound man called out as the two made their way inside the woods outlining their temporary camp.

These two, unlike the first, had been smart enough to bring a light source with them. A simple stick on fire. And were now starting their trek into the wooded lot of land.

The two men had watched their friend disappear into the forest in search of some voice that was apparently talking to him. They had laughed at the idea and teased him into going inside the forest to 'find' the voice as a joke that was only made funnier when he had actually given in to their incessant nagging and the slightly drunken idea. But, soon after they had lost sight of him they had completely felt his Reiatsu vanish and instantly freaked.

The two were up with a start and began a furious sprint towards the direction their friend's Reiatsu had been felt, their Zanpakutō at the ready and a fiery branch in one hand to help guide their way through the figurative maze of trees.

"Heyyy! Abukara! Where'd you go to?! Come on, man, if dis is some kinda joke it ain' funny no more!" The shortest and still drunk man grumbled out loudly over the slight crackle from his flaming branch.

The two walked side by side, each looking out for any sign of the missing squad mate. They didn't expect anything like this to happen to the taller man, they really did think that he was just imagining things and that there would be nothing out here, but the moment his Reiatsu spiked and then completely vanished, dread filled their stomachs and worry entered their hearts. He was a member of their squad after all, they cared for each other and served as brothers-in-arms.

After progressing a good distance in, a wet squelch and a pattering of quiet dripping sounds beneath their feet brought their attention to whatever they had just put their feet into.

Bringing the light of their torches down so that the ground below them would be lit up with the glowing orange light, they stared at what exactly they had stood in.

Eyes widened in absolute horror as they stared, motionless, at the giant, growing puddle of dark-red liquid.

"What the fuck! I-is that blood!?" The tallest of the two swore as they gazed, unblinking, at the blood-soaked dirt and fallen leaves under their feet. Neither of them could find any other words at that moment as they watched dumbly as the crimson stained the exposed, white Tabi fitted to their feet, with their mouths agape.

Looking around, the short, drunk Shinigami soon noticed the steady pattern of splashing drops of blood falling in the approximate centre of the puddle. He followed the maroon trail upwards to find what and where the descending drips were coming from. The moment when he found it he fell straight onto his ass, his body and mind stuck in a state of complete shock as he stared at the pale body of their friend, hanging by the throat, right above them.

Seeing the shorter man fall down right beside him the taller man turned to look at said person with a raised eyebrow and a worried look still on his face. He saw said man openly gaping at something above them, his face having gotten significantly paler and also looking like he was about to empty the contents of his stomach right onto the leaves scattered around them. He followed the sitting man's gaze and looked up.

"Oh dear Kami.. A-Abukara-san!" Now both men were staring at the pale corpse of the friend they were drinking with not even five minutes ago. His throat was slashed open and blood was steadily pouring out of the partially severed neck, completely drenching the entire front of the dead man's Shihakushō in his essential, red, body fluid. The shouting of their friend's name was a futile effort no matter how much he wished it would help, the only thing the suspended carcass of their now deceased friend did was swing slightly.

"W-who!? Who the fuck did this!?" At the very moment he finished screaming out his question three bright-red lines flickered to life above a branch right next to Akahito's corpse. They were shaped in a triangular formation and were aimed directly at the forehead of the yelling man. "Huh? Wha-" Was all he could get out before an extremely-bright flash of blue engulfed his vision, killing the man instantly.

The drunken man watched as the fiery bolt of blue light collided with the taller man's head. At the moment of contact the head of his friend exploded in a shower of gore, bone and grey matter, chunks of his skull and the flesh wrapped around it flying past and landing on the soft dirt with a sickening, splatter sound.

The short, intoxicated Shinigami could do nothing but watch as the blood contained within the male's head showered down on him. Several spots landing in his open mouth, staining his tongue with the taste of iron. The new victim of the unknown aggressor could make no noise as his headless body slumped to the ground momentarily after the intracranial contents sprayed across the ground and his squad mate. The impromptu torch he was holding fell right onto the leaf litter that covered the forest floor and the fire quickly began to spread amongst the new fuel source.

At the sight of the smouldering, charred and cauterised stump of a neck, the inebriated man ended up spinning around onto all fours and hunched over to instigate and ease the process of vomiting out the bile and liquid contents of his gut. Tears started streaming down his face as he slowly tried to crawl away, scared and sobbing, from the abhorrently horrendous scene before him, his only light forgotten and his two closest mates dead.

_SHING_

He had only managed to get a few short metres away when he heard the distinct sound of a blade being withdrawn from its sheath. Turning his head around to look behind him he saw that the small fire was now growing into a incredible conflagration. But, positioned in front of that was the silhouette of an very large, distinctly male body. He looked easily half a foot taller than Abukara as he stood there, holding the blade of his violently decapitated comrade and just stared at it.

A twig snapped under the mortified Shinigami's hand, causing the unfamiliar arrival's head to twist in his direction. A short gasp escaped his lips and he started hastily crawling away, the sharp stones and broken sticks jabbing into his palms as he tried to make his way out of the woods. He could hear nothing behind him as he tried to make his way back to the camp and just as he was about to stand, he felt the cold steel of the Zanpakutō being driven through his spine.

His legs collapsed from under him and he unceremoniously slammed face-first into the dirt as his spine was severed completely around the halfway point of his back, the pain pulsating through his body's nervous-system was so great, the only sound he could make was a croak, as darkness filled his vision.

When he felt the person who had run him through with his dead friend's Zanpakutō grab the front of his face with a large hand, fingers positioned under his chin, and start pulling. He did the only thing he could do in his position of imminent death. Try scream and hope for the safety of the others that they would hear it.

"RRRRUUUNNN-AAKKKHH!" His screams of warning were cut short as the skin surrounding his neck ripped and the muscles and tendons snapped under the growing tension, followed immediately by a rapid succession of grotesque pops and cracks as the drunk's spine and head were forcefully removed from his impaled carcass, then to be held aloft in the yellow glow of the growing inferno he had been getting away from.

* * *

There was absolute silence all-throughout the encampment of Shinigami soldiers except for the occasional crackle from the raging fire in the centre of it all. All the men, intoxicated and not, stood at attention looking over in the direction that the ear-piercing screech had come from. From where they were all standing, they could clearly see the bright glow from the flourishing forest fire, but none could feel the Reiatsu of the group of three unseated members that had been positioned closest to said fire.

It was because all eyes were focused solely on the increasing inferno that they all missed the mass of flesh that had been thrown right over their heads like a flimsy ragdoll, until it had already landed in the middle of the primary circle of flames.

An explosion of splintered, half-ignited wood, torrid ash and burning embers sprayed into the air. The scalding chunks of hot debris flew through the air, several pieces colliding with an few unlucky Shinigami, but the majority of it landing in the short grass that they all stood on, scorching it instantly, and on closest tents, setting them ablaze instantaneously.

The startled and shouting Death Gods set about trying to put them out as well as any other fires that had sprung up from the spontaneous eruption of burnt wood. Though many stood, unable to avert their eyes from what actually caused it.

The headless cadaver of previously screaming Shinigami lay there, the clothing on his person quickly turning to ash in the searing heat and somebody's Zanpakutō impaled through his trunk. The pink skin underneath now changing to a deep ebony, as the festering blisters caused by the flames leaked a putrid mixture of blood and pus through the cracks that formed on them, all over the charcoaling torso. The people who were brave enough to stomach watching the slow incineration of a fellow squad member were aghast with realisation.

Something was out their killing them.

"What the hell's with all the racket?!" A disgruntled voice rang out through the air, attracting the attention of those who were not current trying to put out the burning shelters. The voice came from a man of average height and build, he wore a standard Shinigami Shihakushō and had his Zanpakutō strapped into his uniform's sash. His hair was a shoulder-length brown and he sported a light dusting of dark, unkempt facial hair.

The man took his time to look around the camp after just emerging from his own personal tent. His stance was strong and commanding, but not as much so as those of the upper ranks of the Shinigami, it's steadiness was wavering though, as he took stock of the happenings around him. Several tents were on fire and the men were having trouble putting them out, the unoccupied Shinigami, who seemed to have congregated around the spilt fireplace in the middle of the camp were all looking at him with pleading expressions on their.. Scared faces? Why were the men he was in charge of acting scared by a few fires? And why were they short a few group members?

"Twelfth Seat, Fujikage-dono!" One of his comrades shouted out, while frantically running at said superior whom he had just addressed. His body language was erratic and nervous as he finally came to a stop, slightly out of breath, in front of Fujikage. The man's hand was twitching over the hilt of his blade as if expecting somebody to attack him at any moment.

"Tell me what happened and what's going on!" Fujikage's voice coming through strong as he ordered the man to answer, his tired mind cleared and became focused at seeing the urgency of the soldier before him. The unseated member replied in a quick bow and wisely answered straight away.

"Sir! Three division members have disappeared from the camp! So far, w-we know one is dead, but we don't know about the remaining two, Sir!" The man got out. The twelfth seat was quite obviously shocked by this revelation and proceeded to ask his next round of questions at the still bowing man.

"Do we know what or where it is? Because I can't sense any foreign Reiatsu's nearby. And how do you know that only one of our men have been killed so far?" He asked, doing a quick sweep of the area for any signatures that may prove hostile or alien but came up short and also curious as to why only one person had been confirmed dead.

"No, Sir, we don't know what it is yet and we know that it has killed because one of the men's body's was thrown into the middle-most fire while we were distracted." Fujikage's eyebrows quickly shot up at hearing this, but were creased back together in frustration soon after, not wanting to demoralise his unit any further. They were under attack from something and they didn't know who or what it was attacking them, if he didn't get his subordinates under control and calm they would all be sitting ducks.

Looking up and around him he could see people finally putting out the last of the fires that had popped up. He also suddenly noticed the disgusting stench of burning meat and flesh hanging in the air around their heads.

Before he could announce any proper orders a pain-filled scream broke the tense atmosphere.

All heads spun in its direction to investigate why somebody was screaming in agony, or rather, had now stopped screaming.

Everybody stared at the person seemingly floating two feet off the ground, blood steadily flowing out of the centre of his chest, right were his heart was. His arms were limp at his side, his blade still sheathed snugly at his hip, indicating to everyone that he had not seen his killer coming or even been ready to fend them off. But that was the thing, they still could not see any sign of the being that had just killed the man, aside from him floating without reason. That was until Fujikage noticed the elongated protrusions of blood jutting out of the core of the Shinigami's body.

"It's still there! Everybody draw your Zanpakutō and be ready to defend yourselves!" Fujikage ordered everybody, drawing his own Zanpakutō, as they watched the dead and limp soul being dropped face-first onto the saturated ground, eliciting a sharp crack of a nose breaking from the fall. Fujikage was staring at the hovering, twin, blade-shaped smears of crimson ichor pointed at the ground right next to corpse of their friend and comrade.

Everything was silent for a while as they all stared at apparently nothing, only the heightened pulsating of blood in peoples ears and the sizzle of scorching flesh could be heard as they waited in anticipation for something to happen again. The Ninth Division's twelfth seat keeping a keen eye glued to the floating smear of red at all times. It was like a standoff of some sorts, each party waiting for the other to move or even twitch, so they could begin the coming onslaught.

So, when the blood suddenly disappeared into the night and all vestiges of the being's presence were gone was when the squad sprung into action, each having noticed the dripping, red anomaly that had been sitting there before them. Each man of the unit of Shinigami moved to their practised position and took up their suited role.

Much to the discontent of Twelfth Seat Fujikage, their front line warriors -which happened to be the new recruits from the Eleventh Division- were all still partially drunk, their movements were sloppy and uncoordinated as they bunched up to stand in front of and protect the three Kidō users that he had brought along with him to even out the balance between head-on fighters and ranged Kidō support.

Joining onto the trio of inebriated men, Fujikage carefully watched his surrounding environment. They were in much more peril than they originally thought. This being was capable of completely concealing himself and rendering all that training they had done during their time at the Shin'ō Academy useless. What good did training and experience do when you couldn't even _see _or_ sense _your target coming in any way? There was still the possibility of hearing them, but so far, naught but a rustle nor cry had been produced by their clandestine executioner.

That was until the sound of a distant buzzing was heard in some indiscernible direction, making the huddle of armed Shinigami go tense with anticipation, the grip on each Zanpakutō tightly marginally as they readied themselves for what was to inevitably come.

As the noise grew louder and it became more clear as to which direction it was coming from, the battlement of flesh shifted appropriately, turning to face the noise head-on.

At the front of the formation was one of the men who was closer to passing out from the copious amounts of alcohol they had ingested and was struggling to properly stay upright, let alone concentrate on the task at hand. So when the loud, vicious and metallic, humming sound drew close, he had only a mere fraction of a second to react in any way to save himself. The man unwisely chose to start blinking, right before his upper-half felt sudden weightlessness and he observed as the ground came speeding towards his face.

After the sound of many dense thumps of numerous objects falling to the ground, the man's mind finally caught up with what had just transpired, his Zanpakutō now forgotten.

He struggled to try push his body up to a standing position, but instead just ending up flipping himself over onto his back wondering why his legs seemed to cease any and all function.

Currently capable of only propping himself up on his elbows, the intoxicated man looked down at his legs, or rather, where his legs used to be.

Where his two longest limbs used to be, was only empty space and blood drenched dirt. The man let out a loud, ear-piercing scream upon coming to the realisation that he had been completely bifurcated, horizontally, through his trunk. His person now in two, near perfect halves. The lower half now lay strewn across the ground three feet away from him. He stared at the detached limbs, his face quickly draining of it natural colour to become a pasty white, while his brain tried to react appropriately to the morbid phenomenon that had just happened to him.

The drunk's vision was quickly fading and his brain was shutting down from the lack of blood flowing through his veins. As a last ditched effort to attempt to save his life he reached down to try drag himself to reconnect the lower half, but instead ending up grabbing onto a thick, slimy, bundle of ropey flesh. Lifting up the unknown object to look at it, he felt all hope finally slip away as he stared, eyes half-lidded, at his own blood and dirt-covered intestinal track, which was now unwinding itself and spilling out of his abdominal cavity right onto the crimson coated grass they he lay on. He died not a second later, not seeing one of his drinking partners in the exact same state as him, with the exception of the bisection happening just below his sternum, instead of above the pelvis, like him, resulting in a more or less, immediate death.

* * *

Yoruichi sat in her cat form perched atop the tiled rooftop of the house belonging to her personal friend, Shiba Kūkaku.

She had told the group of kids, after finding no plausible way of getting into the Seireitei without alerting them to their presence anymore than they already have, that they would be going to find her close friend and past associate to help them. Upon acquiring the location of said person after many hours of endless 'questioning' of very reluctant residents, they had begun to make their way towards the woman's home.

It was dusk by the time they had arrived at the rather extravagant and certainly unusual entrance to Shiba Kūkaku's abode. When they reached what the group of four teenagers assumed was the front door to the place and had been greeted by two burly, largely-muscled men, whom looked nearly identical except for slight facial and clothing differences. Yoruichi knew these two as the personal house guards belonging to Kūkaku and the last of the Shiba family.

The two guards, Koganehiko and Shiroganehiko, had instantly recognised the small, black feline leading the four young adults towards them and much to the surprise of those four, the two large men had greeted Yoruichi with manners suitable for someone who was nothing short of royalty. Quite the opposite of how they had come to know the onyx cat to act like.

So it was now, after they had finally met the mysterious Kūkaku, after they had come up with a plan with the woman's help, that Yoruichi sat staring into the night's sky with a dark scowl planted across her animal face, her eyes filled with worry and fear as well as great levels of unrest.

They had travelled a great distance from the spot the _six _of them had originally entered the Soul Society from and Yoruichi knew that there would be near to no chance of her being able to find _him_ in a place of this size and magnitude. Through their day's travels she had continually been scoping out with her senses and keeping tabs on each and every notable source of Reiatsu. The most prominent being a large mass of Reiatsu being produced from about a dozen or so Shinigami, in the direction of a fairly remote part of the massive forests that were spread throughout the Rukongai. Most likely a squad from some division sent to deal with a large number of hollow appearances.

The reason for doing so was to keep a metaphorical eye on Spiritual Pressures around her, so that if Ichigo really did start hunting, she would know where he was when the Reiatsu's started disappearing. Or at least their general direction. She was inwardly praying that it wouldn't happen.

The light clacking of a pair of wooden Geta broke the calm silence that had fallen along with the day's sun. Turning her head slightly to acknowledge the presence of the new arrival, Yoruichi picked out the white skirt that her friend Kūkaku was wearing, though, she already had known she was coming to sit next to her the moment the large-breasted woman had walked out of the warm security of her house.

"What's got you so dark and gloomy, Yoruichi? You're not usually someone to get anxious about sneaking around in the Seireitei." The dark-haired woman asked, genuine concern edging its way into her voice. "Unless it's something else? Like the kids downstairs? Or..?" She finished her sentence there and let it hang around for her friend to finish off.

Yoruichi rolled her golden eyes at the thought of her being worried about sneaking around and turned her head completely to face her the woman next to her.

"You of all people should know that I don't have a problem with 'sneaking around,' Kūkaku. And no, it isn't about the kids." 'At least not the four she knows about.' She mentally added on, not wanting to tell her about the fifth person if she didn't have to.

"Then what's got you all sour, huh? We could be splitting a jug of Sake right now! But instead, we're sitting out here in the dark, staring at nothing but trees!" Kūkaka said as a vein pulsated on her forehead, barely containing herself from shouting at her Neko-friend's apparently reasonless mood. Yoruichi just continued to look at the bandage-wrapped female for a moment, before she sighed and shook her head in exasperation.

"Nothing.. Just a bad feeling I guess." She responded in a huff as she got up onto all fours. Kūkaku remained stationary, but with a light scowl on her face as if trying to figure something out.

"You mean like a horrible sense of foreboding?" Yoruichi immediately stopped her walk towards the door below them and turned to stare at the woman, with wide eyes, as Kūkaku continued. "Like a itching at the back of your mind, as if something is trying to get under your skin or maybe get you out of it?"

Still stunned in place by the accuracy of her deduction, Yoruichi just nodded mutely.

"Hah! So It's not something that the Sake is doing to me!" Kūkaku half-heartedly chuckled. "I thought it was odd that the moment I come outside I start to feel like that. Turns out it _wasn't_ my drunken imagination! So I guess that big group disappearing Reiatsu's hasn't been made up by my mind?" She asked with a raised eyebrow as she stared at her dear friend, who now had a shocked look on her cat features.

"Disappearing Reiatsu's?" Yoruichi voiced quietly, while extending her senses once more to check on the people that she had been keeping tabs on. She was startled to find that largest mass had declined sharply in the few minutes that she had been lost in thought and busy talking to Kūkaku, that it was now under half the size that it once was and the scant few emotions leaking through their Reiatsu were extremely frightened, confused and seemed to be devoid of any and all hope.

"I take it by the look of concentration on your face that you've felt it by now and that I'm not imagining things?" Yoruichi did not reply. Instead, Kūkaku heard her mumbling something under her breath about somebody called "Ichigo." She knew there weren't any Ichigos currently residing in her house, or even one in the Seireitei that Yoruichi might know. At least not from memory. So, was this "Ichigo" somebody who had come along with them but hadn't stayed with them? Judging by Yoruichi's scrunched up face and slightly worried look in her eyes, she might be closer with that guess than she thinks.

'Damn it Ichigo! what are you doing?! If you do this you're going to be tracked down and killed!' She spoke inwardly, not realising she had mumbled a couple of those words, but noticing that there was yet another drop in the conglomeration of Spiritual Pressure. 'It's only a matter of time before Yama-Jii sends someone after you Ichigo-kun.. I just hope you make it through all this.' Her thoughts went from agitated to pleading, as she silently wished that the orange-haired pre-adult would survive the whole ordeal, should it come to that. If not for her, then for the sake of his real family, hell, even for the sake of his Yautja family would be better than nothing.

There was no proper way of telling what would ensue should "Mother Masa" find out that her surrogate son has been killed by the very thing his real sister and father were. They didn't know the Yautja's capabilities or how powerful they are. They're just as much of a incalculable factor as Ichigo is.

* * *

_**So, that was about 3.5k of violence. I hope it was enjoyable.**_

_**Last chapter you mentioned I was more than in the right to write graphic stuff and that I had "okay" to write it because it was an AVP cross. I was more wondering about your personal thoughts on it, but what I had been told was sufficient enough to give me the idea that you were all good with it. So I hope this chapter sated your needs and want for violence. :D**_

_**REVIEWS:**_

_**Mas2009: **due to work and personal obligations I'm unable to update as much as I would like, though I try to get them out asap. I don't know why you think Renji is dead. I mentioned that Chad MIGHT be dead in this story but that was more like: he's dead to me and wont be brought up at all._

**_hornet07:_**_ It's what I'm aiming for haha :D_

**_Zaralann:_**_ Since I started this before I had caught up with the manga (before the whole Zanpakuto, hollow and Juha bach mess with ichigo) I will be going on the basis that he was born part shinigami and part quincy, (I saw a spoiler so I knew about his mom but not juha bach) with a REAL Zanpakuto and since he didn't go through the shattering shaft he never became part hollow._

**_Apocalypse Legionaire 117: _**_It will be Ichigo-centric but I will change point of views a lot and will keep you up to date with the other's activities as shown in this chapter._

**_Lord-of-Change:_**_ I loath when people make Aizen seem like the All-seeing, omnipotent god, who can't be bested with any plan and has the world in the palm of his hand and within his web of deception and I had Never planned to make him as so. Aside him planning out the new substitutes path like in canon. I'll tell you now: Aizen thinks Ichigo died with his Mother and the Grand Fisher and has NO knowledge of the Yautja or Xenomorphs. Thanks for the review :D_

**_talonjay: _**_read previous._

**_Kaka-she Gladiator:_**_ It's not everyday that you get someone saying they LIKE cliffhangers hahaha. And Masa will be mentioned throughout the story and will appear further in with some other Yautja (probably around the Ichigo/Kenpachi fight) And again many thanks for the picture! :]_

**_Harbinger Of Kaos:_**_ To answer the whole race issue read the reply to Zaralann (5 reviews up) Also I have wanted to involve Rangiku in the pairing from the very start of this for the very same reasons (that she is under used) but with the direction I'm heading I don't see any feasible way of doing it WITHOUT forcing it and making it seem greatly unnatural. _

**_ShadowCat444:_**_ Thank you for pointing out that error! Haha, the moment I read that I made a mistake that someone was nice enough to point out, I dropped everything and fixed it :D Thanks for the review and the feedback._

**_voidblade6:_**_ I apologise, I do try to avoid going back at all, tis quite annoying. And I cannot say that I do, but I can imagine the effort required to harvest said blood. Love your reviews as always._

**_TeninChwang:_**_ Nope, not at all. however, you're not wrong entirely. Yautja will not Hunt: The sick, the old, the young (children) and women. Unless they are attacked by those people. However, fully-armed shinigami men in their prime are Perfect game. Also, have you not seen any of the Predator movies? because killing people at night, while invisible, without you seeing them coming is kind of their thing.._


	14. A Butterfly's Call

"I finally.. _gasp.._ got you." A breathless and very tired Fujikage rasped out between haggard pants and gulps for air. He stared at the man on his knees right in front him, whose face covered by the grim, metal mask, hiding his true appearance.

The man who had killed his entire hollow-hunting squad now knelt in the blood-soaked dirt, several Bakudō's entangling his limbs and keeping the steel-encased man captive within their grasps, his arms were pulled behind his back, then wrapped up and pressed tightly against his body by a separate constrictive Kidō. His legs also bound by that very same restraining Kidō. It's glowing gold wrapped around his ankles and biceps, not letting the man any range of movement should he want to stand up and walk.

The twelfth seat continued to stand there and watch the giant man. He had just massacred his entire squad in what only seemed like a few minutes and they had been able to do nothing about it.

Sure, they tried to defend themselves, but the combination of the inability to see or sense the person attacking them, and the demoralisation of seeing their fellow comrades being dismembered and disfigured without being able to fight back to return the favour, and then some, was just purely and utterly terrifying.

The only hope they had for combating the murderer was to have that red light pointed at them, as it was their only reprieve from the living nightmare of complete blindness in the field of battle. Though, what followed it was not in the least bit helpful to the already life-threatening situation that they found themselves trying to get out of.

For being able the acquire the approximate location of the being trying to kill them, they had to try and avoid some kind of incredibly hot bolts of, what they could only think of as, liquid fire, that were rapidly launched at them from a great distance away.

When one of the more proficient Kidō users stepped forwards and had tried to send a Shakkahō at the man who had been exposed by the glowing, red laser, he had instantly garnered the attacker's focus when the bright, red Hadō had lit up in his hands to be prepped for firing. Once the destruction spell had been cast, they had all watched as glowing red flew through the air to meet lambent blue, the other being having fired his long-ranged weapon himself.

Upon collision the two projectiles exploded, resulting in the earth below it being immediately scorched, the grass turning to ash and the top layer of soil, directly beneath the blast of heat and energy, had turned to glass in the extreme temperature.

Had they not been so enthralled by the large, vibrant fireball, they would have seen the follow up shot that had been fired, but they were still too surprised and taken aback that something had managed to cause the Hadō to prematurely detonate in mid-air. Sure, there were a multitude of thing that could have caused it to do so, such as a Hollow's Cero, a burst of Reishi from a strong enough source or even another Kidō. Yet, they knew it was none of those that had caused such a reaction. So they were all quite dumbstruck when the Shakkahō had just simple exploded (At least, that's what they thought had happened.)

So when the unexpected second shot was already at too short of a distance away to dodge, they had only been able to yelp in pain as the Kidō specialist took the blast directly to the chest, his back erupting in a shower of viscera, blood and a breath of flame, followed by a wave of intense heat passed over those who stood behind him, the closest squad member to the, now heartless, man receiving the hottest portion of the heat wave, making his face redden with bright, stinging burns.

When the dead man had hit the ground, one of the drunken transfers had decided that he wasn't going to stand around and be killed, like seven other squad mates had been. So, much to Fujikage's anger, he ignored the order to hold formation and ran at their assailant. Or rather, in his direction.

As the man ran on wobbled footing, the twelfth seat had to shout at him and threaten him with punishment for violating a direct order from a superior officer. But it was of no use, as he watched the man get halfway to the edge of the forest, then stop.

All had expected him to drop dead right then and there, but they saw no flash of light, or the sound of blood being spilt onto the ground. They just saw the drunkard standing there, in a sloppy, and very basic stance, one that they had all learnt during their time in the Shin'ō Academy. So, it was much to their surprise when the being that was trying to fell them all, revealed himself.

The person -quite obviously a man- stood in-between the rushing Shinigami and the forest's edge. His unmoving frame clad in some kind of darkened, silver armour, the light from the fires highlighting every edge and surface exposed to it orange glow. It also cast shadows over his form, giving definition to every bump and imperfection to heavy, steel plating the man was covered in, as well as revealing the layers, upon layers of thick, toned, and very obviously scarred muscle that wrapped around the man's skeleton.

He looked like power incarnate, as he continued to stand there, towering a solid foot above them all.

The inebriated, Zanpakutō-wielding Shinigami had rushed forward, still ignoring all the shouts from his teammates, he ran towards the giant man who was doing the exact same; Sprinting full tilt straight towards the oncoming Shinigami.

When the black-clad, Gotei soldier finally got within striking range he had brought down his blade with a heavy swing, hoping to cut the other in half from shoulder to hip. It was a reckless move that would have left his front wide open for anyone with any training in the art of the blade. But the masked man's body language did not even hint at the thought of taking advantage of such an opportunity, or even the thought of getting out of the way of the shorter man's wide swing.

It was when the strike actually connected that they had found out why he didn't bother to adjust his body appropriately to dodge the incoming edge. The thing just bounced right off his armour in a small spray of sparks. Too confused was the drunk, that he was unable to fathom why his trusted Zanpakutō hadn't done anything to the bastard who had killed his friends.

He was too close to react properly to the situation at that moment, that he was unable to get out of the way of the still running man.

The Shinigami watching could do nothing as the attacker carried the man, whom he had rammed into, for several dozen feet, only to be picked up by the throat and smashed into the ground ruthlessly, not a single care for the man's wellbeing, or for the fact that he had been close to being cut in half, if not for his armour.

They had observed, with no small amount of horror, as the relentless murderer before them withdrew a pair of ten inch blades straight out of one of the gauntlet covering his wrists. They couldn't help their comrade as the pair of deadly-sharp blades were plunged into the centre of the winded man's chest, as it had happened all too fast, and would not have had time to get over and put a stop to the eighth killing of this night.

As much as it had pained Fujikage to see another squad member die under his watch he could not risk himself and his two remaining squad mates as well as the forth divisions medic, that had been required to accompany them should they sustain any injuries, for the life of someone who they knew was going to die. It may seem cruel and inhumane, but one life does not hold more value over many, no matter who they are.

Quickly, the steel-clothed man had turned to them; after ripping the gore-soaked blades from the torso of his latest victim. There was another moment of absolute and agonising silence as both enemies sized each other up. And then it had started up again.

So only a few minutes later (Or was it hours? He couldn't tell.), Fujikage had brought the savage to his knees with multiple low-levelled Bakudō. He would have utilised a stronger one, but whilst fighting the ridiculously durable brute in head-to-head combat he had figured out something.

Using all that he had to his disposal to make sure he _didn't_ come in contact with the unknown aggressor, but more just to keep him busy to give the two Kidō specialists enough time to call out their incantations for the high-end Hadō or Bakudō of their choosing.

This had been their fatal mistake.

When the armoured man had noticed that they were not moving an inch and were taking a short couple of second to word out the chants for the Kidōs they were soon to cast, he had shot at both of them. The launcher of fire mounted on his shoulder sending missiles of molten, blue slag at his targets.

Fujikage had came to the quick realisation that this man fought however the people retaliating were fighting. All the Kidō users had died at range and the majority of the head-on fighters had, so far, died by his blades. The only ones that hadn't, were the two that had been cut in half by the large, flying, disk-like object. But they had been given plenty of warning to its approach, as it had been practically screaming while passing through the two unlucky souls. He had scalded himself for not realising this earlier, when they had more numbers.

The two had dropped dead where they stood, as a hole was blasted through the centre of their anatomy, followed by a loud splattering of blood, and chunks of singed flesh.

Fujikage brought his gaze away from the heavily built man in a suit of brutal, steel armour and looked up towards the sky, just over the top of the tree-line. He could see the first light of dawn breaking through the dark of the night's sky. His Zanpakutō still firmly grasped in his right hand and a light sheen of sweat covering his face.

He had tried multiple times to cut down the butcher of a man next to him, during their fight. But, even though that armour was sufficient protection -being extremely resilient against _his_ sword strikes much to his bewilderment-, it had not completely covered his body. Fujikage had used these openings and gaps in the protective steel to his advantage; aiming straight for the exposed flesh in an attempt to maim or cripple the powerhouse of a fighter.

This had quickly turned about to be a fleeting tactic. So, he quickly switched to simply restraining the man until someone of more power could handle him. That wasn't to say that he wasn't powerful in his own right, it was just that this person was very obviously physically stronger, and more durable than him, and continuing to fight against the barrage of slashes and jabs at every one of his body's vital points and major arteries, was beginning to wear him down from having to Shunpo in rapid succession to get out of the man's way.

The thought of releasing his Zanpakutō had passed through his mind, but since it turned into a large pole-arm it would only hinder his ability to dodge the crazed brawler. So he had decided against doing so, in favour of actually staying alive.

Looking at him out of the corner of his eye, he could see that his captive was still kneeling, having not moved a muscle since his knees hit the ground.

At the moment he appeared to not be struggling against his restraints at all, as if he was either, completely immobile from the multiple Bakudō's, or he was simply waiting for something, like the right moment to strike? Those restraining Kidō were helping prevent that though, so at this point in time he had nothing to worry about, or at least he thought so, the weapon he had been using to fire at his teammates could be seen nowhere on him, from Fujikage's point of view.

Adding a mental note that he should add a higher level Bakudō now that he has the time to speak (Without being impaled that is.), just in case the ensnared man found a way to break out of the binding Kidō while he waits for back up.

Raising his empty, left hand in front of him he waited for a brief second before a small, red and black butterfly landed on the end of his index finger. The brown-haired Shinigami let out a ragged breath to try calm his nerves before he relayed his request to the Jigokuchō, to be sent to his division's Taichō.

'This is Twelfth Seat Fujikage. Sending request for immediate assistance.. ' He spoke to the Jigokuchō, completely unaware of the real reason that the butcher of his squad was not resisting arrest.

* * *

_"Why do you let him hold you like this, Ichigo?" _The voice asked in his head again, after the teen in question had not responded.

_"You should be ripping the throat out of his neck with you bare hands! So, why aren't you doing it, Ichigo?" _It asked again, but received only silence.

Ichigo just listened to the disembodied voice in his head, he was not shocked at all by its sudden arousal, or that the genderless voice seemed to be slightly more defined. No. This had happened many times before. Mainly during hunts, or particularly intense sparring sessions with his Mother Masa and the other Yautja. He just chose to remain silent, as the voice figured out his motives.

_"You know already that the bindings this _Death God_ put on you have already broken, don't you? They only remain on you because you haven't moved and disrupted the flow of their energy. Not that it really matters, does it, Ichigo?" _The slightly high-pitched voice inquired and assumed.

'No.' Ichigo replied, finally. There was a silence for a few seconds, as the voice waited for him to elaborate. 'I didn't know they had broken.. But I knew they were.. useless.. from the moment they touched me..' His voice just a deep and unemotional inside his head as it was in the real world.

He just sat there in the same stance, staring at the dark-red stained ground, not even paying attention to the happenings around him. Such as the looming sun and the dark-coloured butterfly on the end of his combatant's finger.

_"So then, why haven't you claimed his skull yet?" _Ichigo waited for him to continue. _"Ohh. You want him to realise the mistake he made of not killing you straight away; don't you, Ichigo?" _The voice liked to play this game with him. It would ask rhetorical questions and obviously not expect an answer. It always knew his reasoning for everything, and from the all the conversations they had, it sounded as if it upheld all the same morals and followed the same honour code as him; like it had been training with the Yautja alongside him the whole time.

But the voice always sounded.. Held back, somehow. Like it was fighting to get past that metaphoric wall that it had been speaking through those many years ago, when it was nothing but a murmur in the back of his mind.

_"You should kill him now, Ichigo."_ Instructed the voice. To which Ichigo raised an internal eyebrow ever so slightly. _"He has shifted his attention to someone else. I'm guessing it's the one who had yet to come out of hiding in his little house." _The orange-haired Predator open his eyes, that he had closed whilst talking to the bodiless speaker, to look at the Shinigami who had him 'trapped' within these energy binds, and the new arrival shakily moving towards them.

_"You should rip his arm off, Ichigo." _It started again. _"Rip it off and tear his chest open. Right in front of that black-haired boy who's just staring at you.. Yeah, you should do that, Ichigo." _It was exactly like him.

Ichigo stared at the small, black-haired boy, who was now doing his best to stand still in the burnt out field, while getting yelled at by the taller, brown-haired Soul Reaper. The meek looking boy's expression was a mix between petrified in horror, and disgusted and repulsed by the carnage surrounding them, as he continued to stare at Ichigo, with copious amounts of fear in his eyes.

Lifting his head up slightly, Dead Eye watched as the young-looking boy flinched back at his sudden movement. The larger and apparently in-charge Shinigami quickly spun around on his heel and bent his knees, with his blade in front of him, in preparation for an attack. But the strawberry-blonde, dreadlocked teen just sat there, staring at them. The blank expression of his Bio-Mask hiding his real face, the only emotion present was the vicious looking maw made up of a set of teeth carved into the steel of its exterior, and the eyeless, black sockets staring at the two with a dim, red glow, almost unnoticeable in the sharp, dawn light.

Fujikage eased up at seeing that his captive had only moved his head and was not attempting to break out of his binds. He put on a grim expression when he remembered what this human-like being had done to his squad members. How could someone so violently cut down an entire party of Shinigami like that? The only ones that he knew were capable of such things were only the Taichōs and Fukutaichōs of the thirteen divisions of the Gotei 13.

Gripping his Zanpakutō tightly enough to make his knuckles pop and turn white, he held back the sudden urge to try and cut the man's head off right now. But he would wait, he had sent the Jigokuchō to Tōsen-Taichō requesting immediate backup to assist in the escorting and incarceration of who, or whatever this man was, as well as bringing the bodies of his comrades back to the Seireitei.

The brown-haired twelfth seat took a few steps towards his bound prisoner to taunt his apparent 'hopelessness'. As he paced those few feet closer he had completely foregone the stronger Bakudō that he had planned to use; in-case captive was capable of breaking out of his current ones.

Due to this lapse of judgement he was unaware of the true danger that he was soon to be in.

He only had to lean down slightly in order to come face to face with the butcher of his company; as the man's massive stature brought him, easily, up to Fujikage's chest. He stared into those cold, empty slits that were the eye's of the metallic mask, and poured as much hate and animosity as he could muster, into the glare. Not taking heed of the shaky warnings that the kid from the Fourth Division was giving him.

"I don't know why you killed all of my party and fellow Shinigami, or where you even came from. But I know one thing.." He spat out with much disdain. "When you are locked up for judgement, I will personally do everything I can to make sure you pay for killing my unit and to ensure you are killed and are never able to return. You ugly, motherfu-KKAAHK!"

Before he could finish of his taunting, he was cut off, he felt an immense pressure constrict his around his throat and begin to lift him off the ground. Since he had ended up being face to face with the man he was taunting, he hadn't seen the hand that had slowly creeping towards him; the one that the Fourth Division healer had been trying to warn him about.

Thinking quickly, as he saw the Kidō trapping the man shatter and fade away into the air as Reishi, he swung his right arm upwards, in a diagonal line, hoping to score a deep enough gash on the man strangling him, to cause him to let go due to the sudden shock of pain.

He partially succeeded.

Across the of his body front was a long, fresh wound, going from the left side of his hip, and finished just above the right nipple that was clearly visible beneath the wide, diamond-patterned, skin-tight mesh that clung to the muscular flesh. The injury seeped a vibrant red blood that seemed almost luminescent in the morning sun, it was almost inhuman with how bright it was, but it was most likely a trick of the eye, as he could feel tears pooling and his vision blurring from the disallowance of circulation of blood through to his head, no doubt his face was flushed red right now.

Trying again, Fujikage pulled his blade back, over his head, to swing down at the side of the neck of the person holding him. But during mid-swing, he was stopped.

Averting his eyes away from the mask, that he had been continuously staring at, he looked to see that his arm was being stopped by the free hand of his strangler. He tried to struggle and get his arm free, but it wouldn't budge as he felt the man's grip tighten around his forearm and then a sharp tugging.

Pain erupted from his shoulder, as he felt his tendons, biceps and triceps spontaneously rip from the aforementioned area of his anatomy, accompanied by the sickening crack of his humerus breaking out of its joint.

A gurgled scream tore its way out of Fujikage's throat as the nerves in his arm went haywire, sending pulses of burning agony from the short passage through chest and to his brain. The clang of metal and a thump of dying meat and bone was heard, as the arm was haphazardly thrown to the ground. Now long forgotten in the throes of his suffering. The twelfth seat thought he was going to stop there when he felt the throttling ease up slightly. But was poorly mistaken when he just felt his neck being shifted into a different hand.

A sudden cooling breeze was felt brushing against his chest through all the pain, as well as the warmth something being pressed against it. Looking down to see that the top half of his Shihakushō was pulled open and a hand was touching the centre of his chest.

Through his tears he watched as each finger was aligned with the spaces between each of his ribs, then straightened out so the tips were pressed against the tender flesh.

When the pressure came, the pain started anew. He could feel the ends of the fingers piercing his chest and forcing their way between his ribcage at an agonisingly slow pace. When it felt like the phalanges were sunken halfway into his chest cavity, he felt the sudden rush of them being pushed right up to the knuckle.

He wanted so badly to scream. Scream as loud as humanly possible. But he couldn't. The fingers were either crushing, or had punctured one of his lungs, and the hand wrapped around his neck was cutting off any new oxygen entering his system.

His brain idly noted that there was less skin contact around his neck while being held up with the left hand. Was he missing a finger? And why were these thoughts coming to him, when he had another person's hand half-buried in his chest? Was it his brain's last attempt to get through the pain? Though, it wouldn't matter if he got through the pain or not; without medical attention he would bleed to death from the forcefully detached arm.

That's when he remembered the kid from the Fourth Division.

"Ya.. ma.. da.." Fujikage choked out. He tried to look over his shoulder, but his head stayed static, and refused to move with the hand around his neck keeping it in place. The last of the air in his lungs gone from trying to get the black-haired healer's help and attention. He was going to pass out very soon.

Before he even realised it, he had felt a decent amount of weight being pulled off his front. Then it came. The pain that wracked his entire soul was unimaginable. He hadn't felt his torturer curl his fingers around his sternum and then pull, completely mutilating his chest by cleanly tearing out the entire front of his ribcage and all the muscle and skin attached to it. Nor had he heard the splatter of red discharge pelting the darkened silver encasing his executioner, or seen that same man holding the frontal section of his thoracic cage, aloft, bellowing a triumphant, gore-ridden roar.

Fujikage's vision just faded to black as his body slammed limply to the ground. His vital organs spilling out of his carcass, as he bounced off the damp dirt, never to wake up again.

* * *

"Since we are all here now, we shall finally begin this meeting!" The ancient, but powerful, voice of one Yamamoto Genryūsai Shigekuni, the oldest and strongest Shinigami alive, and the current Sōtaichō of the Gotei 13, echoed through the large room that he was currently seated in. This room was built to house the meetings of the thirteen greatest powers in the entirety of the Soul Society and the World of the Living.

Eleven other figures currently stood in this large building, each of their own, respective heights and shapes. They ranged from a towering nine foot tall behemoth, who wears a tan-coloured, full-headed helmet and matching bracers on his arms. To a short boy, with a very child-like appearance, and startling, white hair.

"Yare Yare, Yama-jii. What did you have all us Taichō's called in for at this time of day?" A rather flamboyant voice asked. This came from a man tall man with a large, pink Kimono draped over his shoulder and a wide, straw Sakkat atop his head and slanted forward slightly, covering his eyes. The man named Kyōraku Shunsui held a posture that was very laid-back and relaxed, which made him radiate with a certain air of laziness.

"It has come to our attention that the intruders who had broken into the Soul Society yesterday morning, have now managed to infiltrate the Seireitei." He said calmly, letting no emotions betray his current impassiveness. Meanwhile, on the inside, he was getting extremely frustrated. These Ryoka were beginning to make a mockery of the Gotei 13 by forcing their way in with next to no resistance.

The majority of the Taichōs present all raised a brow, or widened their eyes, or gave their own look of surprise and alert at hearing this news.

"What? How? That should be impossible, since the Sekki Sekki walls dropped not long after they arrived!" This sudden outburst of disbelief came from a short, but very athletically-built woman, who had jaw length, black hair, which also two long braids cascading down her back, and a deep frown set on her face. Overall, Suì-Fēng being her name, had a very tom-boyish appearance.

"Kurotsuchi-Taichō." The Sōtaichō intoned. To which, the man, Kurotsuchi Mayuri, sighed.

"I guess that I am the one who has to provide the answers to questions that your dull brains have yet to figure out." The man whose face was covered in black and white make-up huffed out, obviously annoyed.

"Out with it already!" Another, more gravelly voice spoke, clearly trying to shout the answer out of his fellow Taichō.

"If you had simple just waited, _Kenpachi, _I would already be explaining it." Kurotsuchi seethed. There was an collective sigh of exasperation from a lot of the gathered Captains. "Now, I will try and explain this in a way that even your barbaric mind will be able to comprehend." He started, finally.

"At approximately 0500 hours this morning, the S.R.D.I.'s sensors picked up on a large mass of Reishi heading on a collision course with the barrier surrounding the Seireitei." Seeing that they were still keeping up with him he continued. "We had expected it to disintegrate the moment it came in contact with the barrier. While it was destroyed, it did not do so as expected." He idly watched as the others gained questioning looks and already knew what they were about to ask. "The moment it came into contact with the protection field, it only slowed its movements briefly. When it got through the barrier, that was when it was destroyed." Mayuri paused and was about to keep going but the Taichō, Zaraki Kenpachi, interrupted again.

"So what does something hitting the shield have to do with the Ryoka breaking in, huh?" Kenpachi questioned.

"If you would let me finish, you imbecile, you would have your answer. Yet you continue to interrupt me like the bumbling ape you are!" Kurotsuchi snarled, quickly getting sick of the taller man.

"You want to say that again, clown-face?" Zaraki growled, grabbing the hilt of his Zanpakutō.

As the Taichō of the Twelfth Division was about to respond, a deep and angry voice bellowed out across the hall, effectively silencing the both of them.

"Enough! Zaraki-Taichō, refrain from saying anything until Kurotsuchi-Taichō has finished speaking. Kurotsuchi-Taichō, continue your explanation, so that we might be able to finish this meeting and carry on with our duties!" The Sōtaichō ordered, releasing a minute amount of Reiatsu to drive the order home. An indignant 'Che' was heard as Zaraki stepped back to the spot that he had been standing on.

"Fine then. The mass that partially broke through the barrier surrounding the Seireitei was destroyed. It was, however, just a shell of Reishi, insulating the person, or persons, inside of it, and protecting them from being disintegrated when they came in contact with said barrier. It was that, that had been destroyed. So, whoever was inside of it was relatively safe as they passed through the shield, and are now walking freely throughout the Seireitei." Mayuri finally finished, relieved that nobody had interrupted him again.

As a silence rolled over them all, not a single person speaking as they let the information that they had just acquired sink in. That was until a calm voice ended the hush.

"I assume that this 'shell' did not power itself?" The person who spoke was a bespectacled man, with short, dark-brown hair, and seemed to radiate a very calm and kind demeanour. The man's name: Aizen Sōsuke.

"No, of course not. Why?" Kurotsuchi answered and asked, with a slight edge to his voice.

"I was simple wondering what it would take to power something strong enough to break through the protection shield. So that we may have something that resembles an idea of what we might be up against." He replied, a hint of curiosity in his voice. Nearly all the other Captains gave a small nod or a hum in agreement.

"Ahhh, I see." He paused for a moment, bringing a finger with a elongated fingernail, to his chin. "I can't tell you the exact numbers, as no one has successfully gotten through it. Or even been idiotic enough to try, until now that is. But, I would have to estimate they would have to have the Reiryoku levels of a mid to high end Taichō." He told them all, looking right at the Taichō who had queried him about it.

This immediately set off alarm-bells within the heads of multiple Captains.

"However, if they had, say, three people, instead of one. Each being at the level of a Fukutaichō would also be sufficient enough, since, collectively, they would make up the power that a Taichō has." While this did alleviate some of the shock, it still did not make knowing that there were probably multiple people with the strength of a Fukutaichō running rampant within their ranks any easier.

As a low murmur befell them, each person discussing the situation with their neighbour, only a few eyes and ears picked up the fluttering of a black butterfly hovering around the Captain with dark skin and visor over his eyes.

"Ahh.. Tōsen-Taichō, it looks like ya got a message from someone." A slender man with slick, silver hair and a very fox-like face spoke up; having been the first to notice the Jigokuchō.

The man frowned behind his visor and inclined his head towards the black and red winged messenger. Before he could raise a hand to receive the message, Yamamoto spoke up.

"You know it is expressly forbidden to receive reports and messages whilst a Taichō's meeting is in session, Tōsen-Taichō." He reprimanded with a deep frown. Tōsen Kaname bowed deeply in response.

"Forgive me, Sōtaichō, I have told my subordinates many times that I am not to be contacted while in a meeting, unless there is a situation of extreme urgency." He tried to justify the actions of the division member who had sent him the Jigokuchō. Yamamoto stared between Tōsen and the Jigokuchō for a few moments before speaking again.

"Forgiven. Also, you may listen to what it has to say. But since you suggested that the message would be of such grave importance it shall be played aloud for us all to hear. Is that understood?" The Captain-Commander ordered, more than requested. Kaname responded by returning to his upright position and gave a polite nod of acknowledgement.

"Hai, Sōtaichō, understood." He answered.

All attention was shifted towards the Jigokuchō on the end of the blind man's finger as they waited for the dire report to start playing.

_"__This is Twelfth Seat Fujikage. Sending request for immediate assistance!" _This startled a large portion of those all listening, not just from the volume of the relaying request. _"The mission that I, and eleven others had been sent on to eliminate the hollows showing up in Rukongai was successful and with no casualties." _This confused a certain number of the captains. Why would he be requesting backup if he didn't need it?

The recording continued.

_"But, very early this morning several from the squad I had been accompanied by, disappeared. It wasn't until we had one of their bodies thrown at us that we realised that we were under attack by some unknown force." _All Taichōs were intently focused on the message now, it was very rare that people would die without the others around them knowing about it. And they had a body thrown at them? What kind of person uses scare tactics like that? It is a sickening and dishonourable way to damage moral, at least by Shinigami standards.

They could hear the emotion flowing through the man's voice, even though it was done via the mind it still sounded very shaken up and sorrowful.

_"Sir, the entire squad has killed by a single person. We had been unable to sense anything and were fighting blind, both figuratively and literally, as he was able to camouflage himself somehow and he took advantage of this. Only myself and the Fourth Division's Seventh Seat, Yamada Hanatarō, remain." _All the Captains were wide-eyed at this news. Tōsen himself was clenching his empty fist tightly enough to cause several knuckles to pop. The Fourth Division's Taichō remained eerily silent.

_"I have managed to apprehend the attacker with several Bakudō, but I do not know how long they will hold him for. So, I repeat: I require immediate assistance of someone of at least Fukutaichō rank to bring the man into custody, and any others to collect the remains of the dead." _All stayed silent for several moments as the Jigokuchō left the hand of the dark-skinned Taichō and disappeared into the air. It was the Sōtaichō that took the initiative to break this tense air.

"All Taichōs are to return to their Divisions and await orders! Should the Ryoka who have broken into the Seireitei show themselves, you are authorised to use lethal force, as well as Bankai, if needed." All shouted a 'Hai!' some with more intensity than others. But before they were dismissed Yamamoto kept talking.

"Suì-Fēng-Taichō!" He called out to the onyx-haired girl.

"Hai!?" She responded, startled by the sudden attention.

"I trust you and the Onmitsukidō can take care of the situation with Twelfth Seat Fujikage if Tōsen-Taichō gives you his whereabouts?" He enquired, believing that the Assassins from the Second Division would be most proficient at responding to a situation like this.

"Of course, Sōtaichō!" With that she disappeared in a flash of Shunpo.

Seeing her go, Genryusai finally dismissed the rest of the Captains to return to their own Divisions to prepare. As they left he didn't fail to miss the slight smirk present on the face of the elegant-looking woman with the large braid covering her chest. Nor did he miss her slightly lidded eyes or the creeping aura of death beginning to surround her.

When all had left the large room and only himself and Kyōraku were left, he released a heavy sigh and slumped into his chair wearily.

"Yama-jii, I have not felt that level of intent to kill through a simple message, even in person, for a very long time." Shunsui spoke, a deep and thoughtful frown present on his face, underneath his hat.

"Indeed, Kyōraku. I am glad that it was not my old age play tricks on me. I have not felt that level of killing intent since Retsu was Yachiru."

What they were talking about was the sudden influx of killing intent that had struck them the moment the message had begun. Whatever was producing it had enough to be able to influence the emotions that the Jigokuchō was picking up through the mind of the Twelfth Seat, to the point in which it felt as if there was an entire other being recording the message with Fujikage and just poured its want to kill directly into the report. All the captains had felt it, but none had brought it up. They opting to just listen to the report instead.

"I fear that these Ryoka may not be the biggest problem right now. I only hope that whoever Suì-Fēng-Taichō sends to retrieve the person isn't too late, and is strong enough to handle someone of such calibre."

Kyōraku hummed in agreement and stayed thoughtfully silent.

* * *

**_Awesome, this chapter is done :D_**

**_Sorry if this is late or contains any major inconsistencies, I was sick for a week for the first time in like 2 years and it destroyed my head to a point where I could barely even form proper sentences both in written and talking. So I hope it doesn't show up in my writing.  
_**

**_Also, if you noticed the word count on my story going down, don't worry, I'm not editing chapters, I'm just removing invalid A/N's and correcting some grammar here and there._**

**_Now, if your thinking "Omg, when is Ichigo getting into the Seireitei so he can start fighting captains and shit" Do not worry, as with all the events in my story I don't like leave them hanging and just skip to other parts. And this chapter was basically the wrap up of the Unseated Massacre and he will be getting into the Seireitei next chapter with what I've planned and then he will likely find his first challenge the one after that._**

**_REVIEWS: (possible future story spoilers)_**

**_Zaralann: _**_Sorry, yes, you are right. He was part hollow from the very start (in canon) and it is a real zanpakuto. 'Real' was a bad choice of words, I should have said he's going to get a 'Normal' Zpkt. As to whether I will be giving him zangetsu or not, I am still undecided and i don't want to give too much away. Thanks for the review as always._

**_friaku: _**_glad you liked it so much haha :D I hope their reaction at the end of this chapter was good enough and not too forced. Thanks as always :)_

**_lajoie21: _**_Stuff happens next, my friend, stuff._

**_dalulzing:_**_ I have given up on the idea on making this a harem at all, so do not worry too much._

**_TeninChwang:_**_ As is with all cross-overs there will always be inconsistencies like this that make things hard to explain or justify. Simply put, if they are armed/are male and capable of defending themselves in combat, they are fair game for Ichigo. It becomes far too much work to try and justify every action he does to exact specifications, so I ended up just have him follow a more basic set of rules. I'm sorry if this puts you off the story, but it is far too hard to stick 100% to every single rule set by the Yautja and Ichigo's honour code._

**_Harbinger Of Kaos: _**_Indeed, I have never given a hands-down definitive yes and no answer on future things like this, because things will always change and so-on. You are correct in saying that he believes himself to be more Yautja than Human. Thanks for the review :D_

_**Voidblade6: **Thanks for the review as always, getting sick also never helps the progress of chapter creation hahah. But I appreciate the advice :)  
_

**_SeanHicks4: _**_Yeah, skulls are like a big trophy thing, but if he was to collect EVERY skull from every kill he wouldn't be able to move or find a wall big enough to mount them on. So he really only needs one skull from each hunt session and that's why he can blow up heads like that. :D_

**_dragonlord13371: _**_I'm glad that my story didn't disappoint :P Thanks for sticking around and reviewing._

**_Many thanks to all_**

**_- Gorgantuan_**


	15. Slaughter On Display

_**Okay, this chapter may be Very M-rated due to gore (At least, I think so). But you guys like that shit anyway, so whatever **__**:)**_

* * *

A large, portly man lay on the couch in an office, in one of the many divisions of the Gotei 13.

More specifically the Second Division.

It was widely known that this squadron trained and produced some of the most lethal and efficient killers to ever walk the grounds of the Seireitei. It specialised in training soldiers in the art of hidden combat and assassinations, but also had joint operations that were tied in with the Onmitsukidō; who were under the command of the Taichō of the Second.

Some also trained to serve as the jailors of the criminals, or any Shinigami that have been deemed to be hazardous to the local populous.

So, when one thought of a stealthy assassin, one does not tend to think of an over-weight man with a multitude of flashy golden rings, necklaces and many other assortments of jewellery covering his body.

The sound of rapidly approaching footsteps echoed through the hallway just outside the door to the office, until they came to a brief stop right outside the shōji-style entrance. The entrance to the office was hastily slid open and the small figure of the Taichō of the Second, Suì-Fēng, stood in its frame with a extremely disgruntled look on her face as she stared at her current Fukutaichō lazily lying on the sofa, eating what appeared to be some kind of cracker.

"Ōmaeda!" She growled at him, her tone very obviously unhappy. The man being spoken to, Ōmaeda Marechiyo, instantly shot up off the couch, but ended up rolling off onto the ground with a loud _thump._

"Hey! What do you thi-!?" The rotund Fukutaichō began shouting, but cut himself off when he saw who the culprit that had disturbed him was. "Suì-Fēng-Taichō!" He shot up, standing before her in respectful manner. "Has the meeting finished already?" He asked, clearly having not seen the small, black butterfly floating above his head.

"It finished twenty minutes ago, Marechiyo!" He went to open his mouth to talk, but seeing this the short woman stopped him with a harsh glare and continued to berate him. "If you weren't being such a fat slob, you would have seen the Jigokuchō floating above your thick skull, and would've know that _You_ were supposed to meet me at the western gate ten minutes ago!" Suì-Fēng was seething as she stared up at her subordinate, who was at a much greater height.

However the height advantage did nothing to make the pissed-off Taichō look any less frightening to Marechiyo.

"A-Ahh, s-sorry Taichō! B-but," He stuttered out, though he still didn't have the faintest idea as to why she was _this _angry at him. "W-Why are you s-so mad? It's n-not like it's that much of an e-e-emergency, is it?" He asked, which was apparently the wrong thing to ask, as it only served to anger Suì-Fēng even further.

At this point in time Suì-Fēng had decided to completely forego just sticking to verbally abusing her infuriating Fukutaichō into following orders. Rapidly Shunpoing behind the fat man, she sent her leg flying into his upper-back, roughly sending him out the door and into the hallway. Ōmaeda instantly got up, ignoring the strong pain in his back and Shunpoed off, shouting his apologies and something about 'the gate.'

Suì-Fēng drew out a long breath to help calm herself, before she took off after her Lieutenant.

* * *

"Damn that child, if she had just kept concentrating we wouldn't be separated like this." Yoruichi bristled in annoyance.

The entrance had been running smoothly. They had gotten out of the cannon and into the air perfectly, and were on their way towards the Shakonmaku. But when they hit it, that's when things started to go south, not just in a literal sense. Ganju just _had _to open his mouth to make some smart ass comment about the Kurosaki's increased levels of 'Shinigami' Reiryoku making it harder for him to get them through the shield surrounding the Seireitei because it was "taking too much concentration" to manage the increased power.

So when Karin had broke her connection with the Reishūkaku momentarily in a small fit of anger that was directed towards the man instigating the whole event, it had been enough to cause the cannonball of Reishi to became unstable, and it just so happened to be while they were only halfway through the shielding membrane!

Yoruichi clicked her cat tongue in frustration. Now she had to go about finding each of the stupid brats so they could at least walk around together in a group and not get themselves killed while they are alone. That was the last thing she needed right now; the possible death of one of Isshin's remaining family members on her hands.. Or paws.. Whatever.

When the word 'family' had passed through her mind, she was immediately reminded that Karin was not the only Kurosaki currently in the Soul Society. Remembering just made her stress levels rise even more.

'Ichigo.'

Ichigo was also here. Though she had not entirely forgotten that he had also come along with them, without them knowing, she had simply put her thoughts about him away in the back of her mind, so that she could focus on the task at hand and not worry about his life potentially being in a lot of danger. The memory from last night came back to her. When a big mass of Reiatsu coming from a mob of Shinigami had suddenly plummeted to near nothing a long distance away and it had been Kūkaku had been the one to point it out.

She should have gone, right then and there, but she knew that she couldn't abandon the kids. To do so would have cost them precious time, and Karin, as well as Uryū, Tatsuki and Orihime, would've gotten suspicious as to why she had to leave in the dead of night to go see why some Shinigami Reiatsu signatures seemed to be disappearing into thin air.

Plus. Judging by the distance alone, it would have taken her a good two or three hours to Shunpo there in her cat form. She could have done it in human form and gotten there in a third of the time, but doing so would run the risk of her Reiatsu signature being picked up by the Twelfth Division, or even being seen by someone who might recognise her, though that was much less likely seeing as everyone in the Rukongai would be sleeping by now.

She had ended up doing nothing in the end, much to her displeasure. She really didn't want to leave the boy alone to freely roam and slaughter whoever he wanted, but she currently had 'higher priorities' that now included finding those very children she had given up searching for Ichigo for.

She ran along the rooftops to stay out of sight and avoid being detected while in her cat form. Running in the general direction of where one of their rescue party had been thrown, Yoruichi just hoped that she would be able to find them before anyone with a more.. hostile attitude, found them.

As she made her way over the orange tiled roofs she was keeping a vigilant eye on the lookout for anything that may lead her to finding somebody faster. Using quick bursts of Shunpo to get over the gaps between the blocks and groupings of different division buildings, she made her way towards where she had seen one of the brats drop when they broken through the Shakonmaku. But as she exited her latest Shunpo, and was about to start speeding along the slanted tile roof, her attention was diverted to two figures rushing in the opposite direction that she was headed. Most likely the area around the western gate. It made sense that people would be on their way to the place where the 'intruders' had broken in.

It wasn't that there were people going to the closest location to the area that they had entered from. It was _who_ was heading towards said place that got her attention.

The two figures' shapes were completely different to each other, practically polar-opposites.

One very tall man, with an overweight build and a frightened look on his face, and a Fukutaichō's badge around his arm was ahead of the other. Who was a short, petite woman with black hair stopping around her jaw-line.

When Yoruichi noticed the uniforms and clothing that both of these people were currently wearing, she was hit by a wave of familiarity. It was the skin-tight outfit that the smaller of the two was wearing that drew the most of her attention, as well as including the person themselves. The sense of nostalgia that she got seemed to ease her stress levels a tiny amount.

It was Suì-Fēng. Wearing the uniform that Yoruichi herself used to wear when she had spent her time as a Taichō of the Second Division and acted as the Sōshireikan for the Onmistsukidō. Before she became an exile.

However, as quickly as the two had arrived, they had disappeared equally as fast and she could no longer admire how much her Little Bee had grown during her time away. The cat was almost inclined to follow her to her destination, but decided against doing so, as she would not know how her past student would react to seeing her again after she had abandoned her that long century ago.

Yoruichi was a little perturbed though.

Surely the simple break in of a few Ryoka did not necessitate the need for both the Captain and the Lieutenant of the Stealth Squad. In fact, there were very few things that required either of those individuals to be brought to action. Not when it involved matters within the Seireitei walls itself, in any case.

So what were they doing? Were they searching to find Karin and the others? If so, why not send out Division members to search for them? It would be far more efficient to do so. Unless they weren't. Then if that's the case, what are they doing?

She waited for a while, just trying to keep her senses locked on the aggravated Reiatsu of her ex-protégée. From what she could tell, Suì-Fēng was presently situated near the western gate, but the growing distance between the two quickly making it difficult for her to differentiate or identify the subtle feeling of her previous apprentice's Reiatsu within the mass of the other Shinigami that she could sense around her Little Bee.

The Reiatsu entity that her former pupil had joined to slipped away from her senses. Not in a way that it suddenly disappeared, like those from last night. But rather, they had moved to a place wherein they could not be sought out by way of long ranged sensing.

It suddenly dawned on Yoruichi that they had actually gone out of the Seireitei and that was the reason they had been in such a rush to get there, and why she could not longer sense her old protégée's Reiatsu anymore. But what use was that when the intruders, that were herself and the small group of teens, were inside? Were they not searching for them? Are they searching for someone els-

'Shit!' the small cat screamed internally, her eyes shooting wide open and her body going stiff. 'They must've gotten news about the Shinigami being killed last night!'

She was panicking.

Now she had an extremely hard decision to make. While Yoruichi was not one hundred percent certain that it was Ichigo who had been killing the Shinigami squad last night, she knew that the possibility of it being him was greater than it not being the strawberry-blonde teenager. She had to chose, right now. She could either abandon searching for the four that she had intentionally entered the Soul Society with and leave them to find their way around for the day, praying that they didn't run into any Captains on their way through, then go and find Ichigo while they were doing that. Or, she could keep searching for them, and risk her former apprentice and Taichō of the Second Division finding the eldest Kurosaki child, which would more than certainly result in his death.

Either way, both decisions had some form of negative outcome, it was just deciding which one of the two would be the least detrimental to the coming series of events.

* * *

_More than an hour later._

"_Pant, pant.. _Suì-Fēng-Taichō.. _Wheeze.. _If you said that you were sending me to complete this mission, why are you here as well?" The fat Fukutaichō asked, his loud, boisterous voice penetrating the silence that hung in the air within the forest surrounding them.

They were now only several minutes away from the location that had been given to them by the Taichō of the Ninth, Tōsen Kaname. Where they would find, supposedly, the Ninth Division's Twelfth Seat, the Fourth Division's Seventh Seat, and ten other dead unseated members.

Suì-Fēng though, could not feel the presence of the two who were meant to still be alive, and was having trouble concentrating due to the constant bickering and moaning that Ōmaeda was producing as they rapidly Shunpoed through the forest on their way to the rendezvous point that she had told the rest of the Patrol Corps unit to meet her at.

Eyeing her Fukutaichō with no small amount of hate, she decided to answer his question finally.

"_I _am coming along, _Ōmaeda_, because I will not allow you the possibility to screw up an order that has come directly from the Sōtaichō, himself. Had you been more decisive and noticed the Jigokuchō holding the orders I had sent to you, I would have been more lenient and let you go on your own. However, since that is _not_ the case, I have decided against giving you that privilege, _Fukutaichō_." She ground out between gritted teeth. The man's attitude towards everything they did infuriated her so very, very much.

She would have gotten rid of the useless blob of flesh many years ago, if it weren't for the fact that the Ōmaeda house were basically funding the entirety of the Onmitsukidō, along with the Fēng clan, ever since the Shihōin's pulled out that long century ago after her Yoruichi-sama had abandoned her and her duties and put herself into deliberate exile, along with that buffoon of a man, Urahara Kisuke.

Ignoring the inane hollering and shouting coming from the money-born Shinigami, Suì-Fēng returned her focus to the mission she had been given. She could sense her the rest of the retrieval unit up ahead waiting for them, and sped up to reach them in a shorter time.

Exiting her last Shunpo, she came to a stop behind the line of militia. She expected them to turn and address her with a strong salute as all of her subordinates should. But they remained still, their backs to her, looking out at the field through the edge of the trees. The black-haired Commander-in-Chief closed the gap between her and her division members, ready to reprimand them for their insubordination. She was, however, stopped when she saw what they were all staring at.

As Ōmaeda Marechiyo finally reached the meeting point he could only see the line up of his men and his Taichō standing there alongside them. He noticed that she did not seem to be giving out orders to her underlings. She just stood there, waiting for him. At least, that's what he thought.

A plan hatched inside of his head that might be able to get him back on the good side of Suì-Fēng-Taichō.

Since she wasn't ordering the squad around yet, she must be waiting for him take initiative and do it himself! And that he would do! It will surely make Taichō change her mind about him being lazy!

With his final Flash Step he appeared in front of the line of assassins, his back to the scene in the middle of the field. His sudden arrival causing all but the Taichō herself to flinch and reach for their weapons. Ōmaeda simply ignored this and took it as his superior skills catching them by surprise.

With his hands on his wide hips and his head held high, looking down on them with a incredible air of self-righteous superiority. He began to call out orders as they all stared at him with furious and disbelieving eyes.

"Alright, low-class scum! As your great Fukutaichō, and the one assigned to command this squad, I will be in charge as of this moment." He began, not taking heed of the instantaneous downfall of his Captain's mood. "Now! You four!" He gestured at the four directly in front of him and begun to turn around to give them direction. "You will head over there and- Wha-wha-what.. What the.. What the hell is this!? WHAT THE FUCK HAPPENED!?" He screamed, falling on his ass as he finally gazed upon the horrific scene next to him.

A circle of drooping, dying, and reddened grass lay in the centre of the field before them. The ground in the circle utterly saturated by the crimson liquid flowing through the bodies of every living being. In the centre of the halo filled with blood stood five metal poles, buried and pushed into the ground, standing strong in an upright, almost pentagonal, formation; the whole thing looked ritualistic almost.

What was impaled upon each of these sent pulses of revulsion to flow through the stomach of each soldier present; threatening to raise the bile from their guts.

Five frames of bloody muscle and bone hung limp, every fibre and tendon of their being exposed to the world around them and the sky above them. Blood steadily dripping out of every laceration, every vein, and every opening the natural human body had. Each of the cadavers had had their abdominal muscle separated, and from where the Shinigami were standing, they could see that all internal organs had been torn out through the abdominal gape.

Several of the skinned corpses each had a large hole blasted through the middle of their ribcage and continued, going out the back, thoroughly obliterating the spine upon exit.

The steel poles that kept them up (which closely resembled those used to build the tents that squad are given if they are required to seek shelter for lengthy missions) were smeared with the trails of running fluid, and had been forcibly rammed through the sternums of the flayed carcass's and out of their backs, right between the shoulder blades.

And as a final touch, whoever had taken their time to haul them up into such a grotesque position, had also driven a Zanpakutō straight into the head of each of the suspended victims, and then through the metal stake they had been skewered with, to keep them from gradually slumping to the ground and to force the pelt-less faces -eye's still within their sockets- to peer at whatever was in front of them.

Ōmaeda could no longer stomach the sight, as he quickly got up and ran off behind the rest of his team to go vomit in a nearby bush, the crackers he had been feasting on afore now coming back up to grate against his oesophagus only to collect in a puddle at his feet.

Suì-Fēng didn't know what to be more disgusted more by; her overweight Fukutaichō puking out his stomach contents, or the skinless, soon to be decomposing, entities of flesh hung up in a display of grotesque impalement, which seemed to surround a steaming pile of blood and guts in the inner most portion of the circle of carnage.

Not wishing to appear weak or extremely disheartened by the situation at hand, the black-haired Taichō found her voice and began properly ordering around the unit that her Vice-Captain was _supposed_ to be taking charge of.

"E-everybody spread out and scout the area for the target, as well as Twelfth Seat Fujikage and Seventh Seat Yamada! If you find any other survivors come find me immediately!" He couldn't stop herself from stuttering as her orders broke her division members out of their shock-induced trance. Numerous swishes of Shunpo indicated the departure of her men into the surrounding forest.

Glancing over her shoulder at her Fukutaichō, she sneered in disgust as she watched him kneel before a puddle of fetid, pale-green bile, breathing heavily to try calm himself, before turning back around to the butchery on display.

Taking a shaky breath, Suì-Fēng closed the distance between her and the slaughtered Ninth Division members, the ground squelching beneath her feet as she did. She inspected the nearest body when she got to the steaming pile of visceral slop. She could clearly see the onset of an infestation of fly and insect larvae beginning to ravage and feast upon the gradually rotting flesh. She also took notice of the fact that the body's largest organ had been peeled away with extreme skill and acute dexterity; it was almost of surgical precision with how well the skin had been removed. There were no large chunks of muscle tissue removed from mistakes, and the only imperfection was the large gash in the meat that had probably been from the initiate incision.

Suì-Fēng turned her attention away from the festering cadaver as a shift in the air sent the cloud emanating from the putrid pile straight into her. This caused her to shift her attention to the heap of flesh and actually _look_ at it. She almost screamed in fright when she saw a pair of eyes staring at her from within the mass of gross flesh, but kept herself composed and only released a choked gasp.

Paying it closer attention, Suì-Fēng tried to pick out finer details through the rising steam, but it really only looked like two white dots in a slurry of gore and bone. When the wind shifted back to how it was before, she able to pick out shapes and objects from within the vile heap.

Her eyes promptly widened and then narrowed when the details became more defined.

Amongst the copious amounts of discarded entrails and bloody offal, were the remains of the rest of the hollow-hunting party. The conglomeration of bodily remains consisted of several bisected torsos and legs, the charred husk of a headless man, the bloating corpses of two men whose heads have also been removed; one apparently in a more violent fashion than the other.

She was on the edge of expelling the contents of her innards at seeing that the skin and fat from the five, mutilated, carrion-covered frames was also mixed in with the chest-high mound of degenerating bodies

Spying one last body, Suì-Fēng saw the figure slouched against the pile and moved to try and identify it. The current head count was at ten and this one would make it eleven. Though she probably shouldn't called it a 'head count,' as a good portion of them were missing that segment of their anatomy.

Getting as close to the last person as she was willing to get, Suì-Fēng inspected probably the most distorted of all the deceased Gotei members. His skin was pale, and was starting to show signs of livor mortis in his legs and lower back, meaning that the man had probably only died close to two hours ago. Which would mean that this was almost definitely the twelfth seat that they had come to assist.

She swore inwardly as realised that they were already far too late to be of any help to the man whose right arm and front half of his ribcage had been forcefully torn off, along with his organs spilling out of his chest cavity. It was easy to tell that they had been _torn_ and not cut off, due to the jagged and inconsistent separation of skin around the edge of the wounds

A sudden gag indicated to her that it was time to get away from the disgusting pile of bodies and sinew.

She couldn't handle it any more, she turned away immediately and walked towards a clear and unstained part of the field and knelt down to dry heave the taste out of her mouth.

She has lived for hundreds of years and been with the Onmitsukidō for well over century now, so she was used to seeing dead people. It was practically her job to be around people to be eliminated and killed. But not something like this. She had never been around for what happened _after_ they died.

She only knew that they would eventually be found by a clan member, a member of the community, or be cleaned up by whomever had ordered the hit on that specific person (Sometimes that somebody would be hired by Central 46 if they were the ones sending the orders.)

And it was only ever done against people who were deemed a threat to the Soul Society. And never more than one person at once, unless made absolutely necessary

This, though. This was absolutely horrifying.

The man that had killed all of these men went as far as to deface the bodies of the people he had killed _after he had killed them_ and in some of the most brutal and sick ways she could possibly imagine.

The Stealth Corps were clean and efficient killers. They would just simply break necks, slit throats, or pierce the heart of the target, resulting in more-or-less instantaneous death. The murderer here though, made all of the causes of death (at least the ones she could discern just by looking at) prolonged and _extremely_ painful; Blood loss via forceful amputation.. Being cut in half and having all your vital organs fail..

She had never seen such levels of repugnance towards one's life.

Why did the person need to go so far? Was it some form of warning or intimidation? Like a precursor, or the herald of death to whoever found it?

It mattered little in the end as she simply could not find words to truly describe her feelings towards the abominable display of violent malevolence and the being who was the cause of it all.

The flitter of Shunpo resounded next to her, followed by the soft shifting of dirt.

Looking up from the ground she had been staring at she saw one of her recruits in a kneeling position next to her, ready to relay any findings and report on the current situation. Though it mostly useless as she already knew that there were eleven casualties so far. It was just finding that Seventh Seat that was all that remained. Perhaps?

"Speak of your findings." Suì-Fēng ordered, finding a moment to compose herself after recovering from having to inspect such a barbaric atrocity.

"Ma'am!" The assassin dipped his head respectfully. "We have located one of the targets: Seventh Seat Yamada. But he appears to be suffering from an extreme amount of shock, something similar to a case of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and refuses to move unless we move him ourselves." He told his superior. They both could easily guess why the boy would be in such a state.

"I see. Is that all?" Asked the Taichō. Either way she looked at it, this was a failed mission and knew she would get a chewing out from Yamamoto-Sōtaichō.

"Yes.. Uh, well.. No, Ma'am.." The Stealth Corps member hesitated.

"Then out with it, soldier!" She growled harshly at the hesitance.

"Hai! Uh, Seventh Seat Yamada continues to repeat the phrases 'He's not gone' and 'He's still here', but we have yet to find any evidence that there is anybody else in the immediate vicinity, aside from our unit." He relayed, to which Suì-Fēng responded with wide eyes staring back at her underling. "And also, Ōmaeda-Fukutaichō appears to have disappeared." He drawled, seemingly annoyed by the higher officers actions. "We suspect after his.. Abrupt fit of sickness.. He fled back to the Seireitei." You could hear the spite the messenger had for the fat oaf.

"I see." She strained to keep her anger for her Fukutaichō in check. "Since there is nothing else here, and we have yet to encounter the hostile, we will leave and return to the Seireitei." She spoke, keeping an eye on the tree's and all the shadows they made. "Prep Seventh Seat Yamada for transport if he is incapable of walking himself; carry him if you must. Now, go!" Suì-Fēng commanded.

"Hai!" And with that, he was off.

Suì-Fēng didn't want to stay around any longer. If what Yamada was saying, as well as the message sent by Fujikage, were true, then she did not want to keep her squad in danger any longer than necessary. In fact it wasn't until now that she realised how much danger she was actually in just standing out in the open like this, and she cursed her stupidity in such a hazardous situation.

She glanced off to her right when she saw a small group of Onmitsukidō members hastily carrying a shaking boy out into the open field.

The kid looked absolutely terrible.

His Shihakushō was covered in dirt, his face was pale and stained with the tears that flowed from his eyes. From her position she could also see that there was a thin coating of blood sprayed upon his entire front. He likely had been close to somebody dying and was unlucky enough to get covered by his bodily fluid.

As the Onmitsukidō Commander continued to observe the trembling Fourth Division medic, she couldn't help but feel sorry for the poor soul. The things he must have seen would more than likely haunt him for the rest of his elongated life, if he didn't commit suicide before then, that is.. She may have to give Unohana-Taichō a heads-up about that..

"Alright then, let's get going! We're going to need to travel quickly so that we can catch up to Ōmaeda-Fukutaichō. I do imagine that he has not actually gotten very far." She hatefully sneered, catching the soundless mirth that waved through her subordinates. A terrified whimper cut through the attempt at easing the morbid atmosphere.

Their attention switched to Hanatarō, whose own attention was focused over Suì-Fēng's shoulder.

Quickly turning around with a hand on her Zanpakutō, the black-haired Taichō had to turn and face the heap of rotting corpses again. When she rotated fully and gaze in the pile's direction her eyelids instantly flew open.

Seemingly dangling in mid-air above the massacred bodies was the upside-down head and vertebral column of her Fukutaichō. The spine was saturated in a layer of fresh blood and dripped with some kind of internal body fluid as the head slowly swung back and forth; the crimson drips flowing out of the mouth and neck, into his black hair.

Ōmaeda has been killed! He didn't run off back to the Seireitei! He had been killed after being left alone, and while they weren't watching!

She tried to looked for whoever was holding up the separated head, but could see nothing apart from the occasional shimmer of light as the rising steam was caught in the wind.

As a few moment of warily staring at thin air passed she had soon been able to pick out several shapes and lines as the cloud of evaporating body heat rose from the mass, shifting and moulding around the invisible figure standing atop the pile. A flash of red startled the Captain, and finally realised that she had been staring at it the whole time.

* * *

_"We had been unable to sense anything and were fighting blind, both figuratively and literally, as he was able to camouflage himself somehow, and he took advantage of this."_

* * *

So he wasn't saying 'literally' for dramatic effect. They really couldn't see this person..

She had assumed that that Fujikage was talking about some kind of dark, patterned clothing that blended very well with the environment. But not this. This was some kind of light-based camouflage that caused the wearer to completely vanish. This was something that she could only imagine would have come out of years of research and development from the Twelfth Division, for Onmitsukidō purposes. But nothing like that had even been conceived or even planned to have been made for them.

And as far as they knew, the World of the Living were nowhere near coming close to acquiring this kind of technology.

Not risking the lives of her unit any further she quickly looked over her shoulder and shouted for them to run. They responded immediately and flashed away, taking the distraught Hanatarō with them.

Turning back towards the unknown assailant she readied herself for an attack of any sort. She did not know the capabilities of this person, nor did she want to find out. on the extremely slim chance that he harboured greater power than herself. So Suì-Fēng opted to stay in a battle-ready stance and stare forward at the slayer of her second in command.

Somewhere in the back of her mind she was strangely happy that she didn't had to deal with that infuriating slab of meat anymore, since she had never wanted to work with him in the first place. Though she never actually wanted him _dead,_ just relieved of his Vice-Captaincy so she wouldn't be forced to put up with him and his endless advances and requests for a relationship.

A wave of electricity passed over the invisible form of her foe and she tensed for what was to come.

Pieces of tanned skin covered in a thin, black mesh was slowly revealed. Soon after, segments of a dark, steel armour were also showing through, until the entire body was revealed.

A incredible wave of dread and horror flooded through her body as she openly gaped at the monstrous looking man before her. He seriously looked like his body had been dropped into a pit of razors with the amount of scars that littered his visible flesh, and all that skin wrapped taut around thick layers of fibrous muscle looked almost hard enough to make the armour he was wearing, redundant. But it was the mantle that was tied to his chest that really caused the majority of the influx of fear.

The front half Fujikage's bony ribcage was fastened tightly to the chest of the beast before her. It was hard to judge the size of the man before her just by looking at the pile of people. But she had been close enough to know that Fujikage was of an average height. So looking at the ribcage being dwarfed by the chest of the man wearing it, was very off-putting.

He looked to be just short of that barbarian Zaraki. In fact, she would have to guess that the two would get along _very_ well, and would have a lot more in common other than their savage appearance.

Suì-Fēng narrowed her eyes and decided she would not waste any more time. If they were going to fight she would try at least incapacitate her target before he could do any damage.

Boosting off the ground with a burst of Shunpo, she came in to attack the man's right flank to strike him in the side of his head and mask with a strong, round kick. As she exited the Flash-step, her leg already firing straight for the man, she, in turn, was surprised.

The slaughterer of all those men had already turned his body towards her and brought the head of her Lieutenant up into his hand to act as a buffer between him and her Reiatsu enhanced leg, and Suì-Fēng was already too dedicated to the hit to stop now. So she powered through it and her former-Fukutaichō's skull.

The face, upon coming into contact with the speeding leg, instantaneously caved inwards. The fragments of skull, brain as well as the fluid encasing it was unable to move backwards and react appropriately to the force of the kick, due to the immovable hand holding it from behind, and ended up splattering in every direction imaginable; completely obliterating it.

When the thundering _CRACK_ reached Suì-Fēng's ears and then carried on to echo through the surround forest, she could only think one thing.

'That was oddly satisfying..' Strangely enough, Suzumebachi hummed in agreement somewhere in her inner-world.

An unforeseen, iron-like grip on her leg made her instinctively try and flash away to safety. However the crushingly strong grip did not let up and she was unable to get away from the person she had initiated battle with.

Time slowed as she spied a flying fist barrelling straight through the still-airborne shower of gore and direct itself towards her knee. Her body could not move, or twist fast enough to avoid the entire force of the strike, or even just to redirect some of the power. So she watched, rendered helpless, as two brutal looking blades ejected themselves from the gauntlet that the man wore, and became a front for the titanic punch that was to come.

This level of pain was completely different to that she had felt before.

Sure, she'd had broken bones and had been stabbed before; it basically came with the job description. However, when those twin blade pierced her shin and thigh with their respective points, then carried on _through_ the bone, instantly splitting them in two just above and below the knee joint, she didn't think the pain at that moment could get any more elevated. That was until the fist met her knee.

She regretted having stiffened her leg to such a degree during the attack, and it was just her luck that she should get grappled like so on her first strike.

Her Kneecap shattered from the force behind the punch, but it did not stop there. Suì-Fēng could feel leg hyperextending, and tendons snapping from being over-tensioned. At this point she could nearly visualise her leg joint being at a ninety-degree angle, in the wrong direction, just from the pain.

Her body dropped limp as she could not keep herself airborne without her feet underneath her. Since her leg was still being held horizontally, while she fell into a vertical hang, it bent at the section of her leg that had been slashed straight through.

An agonising and blood-curdling scream ripped itself out of Suì-Fēng's lungs, as the searing pulses of unadulterated pain tore their way through her soul's nervous system.

She could feel tears starting to streak down her face as all of her weight (even though it was relatively miniscule) was held up by her destroyed knee, adding further injury to the already damaged joint and ligaments .

In her head she was begging her the agony to be over. And it seemed that Kami was listening to her prayers, when she felt weightlessness and the grip around her leg being abruptly released.

The small, onyx-haired Taichō fell for a very brief moment before she was stopped again. But this time the hold around her was so much more comforting that the previous embracer, in fact it almost felt familiar.

Suì-Fēng heard the loud splintering of trees being smashed with something in the distance, but paid it no heed. She was too focused on the pleasant scent of soap coming from her saviour's body and trying to figure out why this warmth was so familiar.

Opening water-soaked eyes she tried to make out a face through the blur, all she saw though, was dark, cocoa-coloured skin and a mess of long, purple hair.

It took Suì-Fēng a few seconds until the Taichō of the Second figured it out.

"_Whimper.. _Yoru.. Yoruichi-s-sama..?" Her voice meek and slightly hoarse from her screams.

"Hush now, Little Bee, I've got to get you somewhere safe." Yoruichi whispered lightly into her ear, before the small girl being held fainted, not seeing the disappointed, disgusted, and very sad look on the neko-woman's face.

'Damn it, Ichigo..'

* * *

_**Okay, I know, sorry I'm a little late with the update. But work was tiring, I had band stuff to do, and multiple personal obligations. However, I think this **_**may _be the longest chapter I have written. Second longest if not. So I hope it makes up for the wait._**

**_Uhh, so, yeah.. I decided to kill Omaeda.. hope y'all aren't too upset. I was very close to killing Hanataro, but decided against it as I think he doesn't deserve it.. _**

**_REVIEWS:_**

**_Apocalypse Legionaire 117: _**_Retsu Pissed? No, Quite the opposite. (remember, the whole kenpachi - good fight thingy?) And I wouldn't have call it hunting Ichigo.. Ahehe. Thanks for the review!_

**_Zaralann: _**_You'll be pleased to know that I did not kill Hanataro :D And yeah, Tosen might be a very easy kill for Ichigo, if I make them interact. I don't really want to start talking about the future interactions between people in the reviews, as they tend to change faaaar too often. Sorry. But thanks for the review as always! _

**_Friaku: _**_You know me too well, my friend. hahaha! Thanks for the kind words and the review as always! :D_

**_KowboyKilla 187:_**_ I have decided against using his Canon Zpkt. Because the massive cleaver would just look ridiculous with the whole Predator theme. _****

**_Firebird0315: _**_When I started this story I was not aware that Ichigo had been (more-or-less) born part-hollow. And I was under the impression that he got his "Hollow" from the Shattering Shaft (Like in the Anime) and since (in this) he didn't go through all that.. well.. yeah.. And with the way I have set this story up so far Fullbringer will not be a thing.. Sorry if this displeases you, I'm just too far in to start changing things now. Thank you for taking your time to write the review though. I appreciate the input :)_

**_Mas2009:_**_ At this point I have scrapped the idea of multiple partners (even attraction) for Ichigo since he is, as you say, "Massacring all that comes his way". And even now it is hard for me to find a way to even get Unohana to actually find interest in him (Other than bloodlust) I try to update asap, but life, you know?_

**_Maverick14th:_**_ I love that my story caught your attention like so and I appreciate the praise haha. I seriously think that Dark Ichigo Fictions need to be more of a thing. And not just "AU he's a hollow who wants to kill Aizen and ends up hurting his friends feelings (and doesn't care *GASP*), before redeeming himself then everything's peachy" But when they are done properly AND stick with the theme they are great. Yeah, I do occasionally go over-board with comma's or use a semi-colon when I'm not supposed to. But hey, it's the first big story that I have ever written, so it's more of a learning experience. Also, I may occasionally just miss a word. But if that happens please point it out, you'd be a big help :D Thanks for the massive review_

**_Thanks you all for reading_**

**_- Gorgantuan_**


	16. Turmoil and Distress

_Several thousand miles above the Earth's Atmosphere._

A clawed finger traced the surface of the thick glass wall that lay adjacent to the large, pool-like bath. The window gave anyone who would be occupying the immense bathing pool a clear view of the expansive infinity of space and the viewable universe. Despite the breathtaking view though, it was not the abyss of space that the owner of the finger was currently watching.

The Yautja queen known simply as Your Highness, or Your Majesty to all male Yautja onboard the massive interstellar-cruiser, gazed longingly at a plot of land on the surface of the planet that they were currently orbiting.

She was also known by one other name. The name was reserved and only to be used by one being in the entirety of the universe; her son Dead Eye.

He had come to calling her 'Mother Masa', as their relationship had grown, and she was completely fine with it. Some of the elder Yautja aboard the ship had just about crushed the boy's skull for his disrespect towards 'Their Highness'. But Masa had ordered that they leave him be, as she did not care that he was using such an 'informal' title.

In fact it had caused her to love the youngling even more. But that was just the skin on the prey.

Her adopted offspring showed such levels of strength, vitality and pure ruthlessness during combat that, apart from his species, he was damn near indistinguishable from those of her own race, and the fearless look of complete concentration that his both his eyes took on whilst in the throes of a hunt made her want to ravage the man right then and there. He was so different and so much more determined than the rest of the male Yautja, that it was hard for her not to throw the Ooman down on her place of rest and claim his body for her own.

She didn't.

She couldn't.

It was not that they were physically incapable of doing such a deed. Quite the opposite. Through the many thousands of years that her species had been interacting with the Oomans of earth, they had found that they had remarkably similar physiology in regards to their bodies as a whole, and their organs of reproduction. It is likely that Oomans and the Yautja are sexually compatible, but in their long time of interaction none had tried or attempted to produce mixed offspring between a Yautja and an Ooman.

That was, however, not the reason why she refused and resisted the urge to take the young man as her own partner, despite the racial difference.

She had been informed of how Dark Knife had found the child that would grow up to be such an excitingly savage being; Soaked in rain and the blood of his mother and the creature who had killed her.

Dark Knife had told Masa about how severe his change in personality had been; going from an innocent and cheerful youth, to a cold and emotionless wreck. But he didn't stay that way obviously.

He had eventually changed into the person that_ Mother_ Masa loved so very much.

That's why she couldn't do it.

She was his new mother after having seen his own life-giver be killed right in front of him. She was his new light and reason, and she downright refused to deny him the privilege of having a elder that he could love as his family and parent, and not as a mate.

It never did stop her from letting her mind run. They had spent so much time together, both clothed and naked, that they had almost become intimately familiar with each other's entire anatomy. Her 'son's' build was on par with of a fully grown male Yautja, excluding the fact that he was a full head and neck shorter than the average male or her own species.

But that did not stop her from admiring the densely muscled body of her surrogate-child. In actuality, if he was to be of her own race there would be no doubt in her mind that he would be one of the most sought after hunters to ever be born, due to the massive amounts of raw power his body seemed to radiate.

Dead Eye had genuinely become a fighter on par -surpassing even- with the elite hunters of her clan, and proved time after time that he continues to improve. Even breaking the barriers that his human form should be limited by, as he performed unreal feats of inhuman strength, speed and finesse.

And these were things he did without the high percentage levels of Energy Compression.

Eventually, her son had become well respected by those of a higher status than him, and was even feared by the Young Bloods and several of the younger Blooded Yautja that took up residence on the clan's ship. After many had found out that there was a Ooman stay aboard there vessel they had gone to see why a 'filthy animal' was living with them, thinking themselves above something that their own kind regularly hunts for sport and honour.

Whatever the Unblooded Yautja had been expecting to see was not what they got.

They had walked in to see the Ooman, whose neck at the time had been partially slashed open and profusely bled down his front, simply pick up his current sparring partner and _throw_ the larger being across the training room and into the wall, knocking him out as he head collided with the wall first. That, followed by him taking a thrown Combi-Stick to the back, just below the lung, and out his front like it was nothing more than a mere nuisance had them utterly stunned.

Masa's features shifted to a more pleasant expression at the fond memory. She remembered that day and the sparring match well. It was the day that, due to her son's substantial blood loss, they were forced to-

_Bang! Bang! Bang!_

Masa growled deeply as her reminiscing was interrupted by someone coming to inform her of something that she probably already knew.

Taking one last look at the land that they had deployed her only child onto, she watched as it finally turned and was enveloped by the darkness of the earth's shadow.. Masa was getting tired of waiting for her son to return..

Turning, she took a few steps away from the giant glass window and shifted her attention to the door that someone had knocked on.

":Enter! Speak!:" She spoke out harshly, her voice indicating that she was not pleased about the interruption.

The grating sound of steel against steel bounced through the bathing room as the automated door slid open. revealing the shorter figure of the Elite warrior who had saved the young boy; Dark Knife.

":Your Majesty:" He saluted respectfully, his body language being much more relaxed and not as tense in the presence of Mother Masa as some of the other Yautja might have been.

Dark Knife was one of the very few Yautja onboard their ship that Masa could stand, along with a few of the Elder Yautja, so she was great deal more lenient towards his slightly more casual interactions with her.

":I said speak, Dark Knife. Do not make me repeat myself:" She ordered, becoming tired of the delay to be told something she may obviously know already.

":Second night has come. The Ooman's signal has not returned:" He relayed to her. Even though their language held far less emotion in the tones than that of an Ooman's, it was obvious that the male telling Masa was quite bored, just from listening to his monotonous vocalisations, and by looking at the impassive expression on his face.

Masa just turned back around to the window, the small bones and gems tethered around her neck chiming together as she did. She remained silent for a decent amount of time as her mind buzzed with activity and thoughts. Just as Dark Knife was about to speak up, her was beaten to the punch.

":Why tell me? It is obvious he has not returned yet:" She paused, her spiked eyebrows dropping slightly, further shadowing her already sunken eyes. ":He is not _the _Ooman. He is _my _Ooman.. _My _hunter:" Masa finished quietly, telling Dark Knife that it was a touchy subject for her to discuss openly.

Dark Knife just stood there staring at his superior, as she continued to gaze at the darkened side of the planet they were orbiting. He decided to take a chance.

":You're worried about Dead Eye:" Silence was the answer he got, so he continued. ":You're worried you won't see him, clutch him, and feel his warmth. Aren't you?:" The male Yautja guessed warily, waiting for her to react violently towards him for speaking out of line.

When it seemed like she would not talk, the pale-skinned predator turned to leave, his message having been relayed to Her Highness already. As he got to the door to leave he heard the female talk.

":I grow tired waiting. My body is restless. I want my child back:" Dark Knife looked over his shoulder at her. ":I will not wait! Locate where he was last! I will find out where he has gone!:" She declared, staring directly at Dark Knife. He could see it in her eyes. That loneliness and want, _need_, for her surrogate son to be alive.

Her decision was absolute.

* * *

_Late afternoon. Soul Society._

Yoruichi sat resting and waiting inside a old abandoned building just a few miles away of the Sekkiseki walls surrounding the Seireitei, while next to her lay the motionless body of her ex-protégée, Suì-Fēng.

Yoruichi let a fond smile grace her lips and she gazed at the unconscious face of her Little Bee. She had grown so much and progressed so far since last she saw her.

The purple-haired woman had always felt bad for leaving Suì-Fēng on the day that she had to rescue Kisuke, Tessai and all the others that had fallen prey to Aizen's experiments. But she had never regretted doing so. If she hadn't saved them all they would have all been executed, knowing Central 46. What she had done had resulted in no casualties at all, but cost Yoruichi her position within the ranks of the Gotei 13, as well as the bond between her and her student.

Inspecting the smaller woman's body once more, she stopped and winced when she saw the state of her knee.

The whole thing was purple and had swollen to about three times its normal size. It had two jagged, slit-like entry and exit wounds, both above and below the kneecap, or where it used to be at least.

Ichigo's punch had been so well-executed, precise and powerful enough that the patella had just shattered, sending broken fragments into the joint of the knee, which would likely have caused any and all movement or stimulation of the leg to be excruciatingly painful. Surprisingly though, no major arteries had been opened up and the girl would not be dying of blood loss any time soon.

Yoruichi had ended up ripping the tight legging off of Suì-Fēng's slender and athletic limb in order to accurately assess the damage as best she could in her current situation, as well as using it as a makeshift tourniquet to partially staunch the blood running freely out of the wounds.

Trying to realign the bones in her leg had been somewhat successful. The dark-skinned, ex-Stealth Force Commander had managed to put them back to where they should be, but if they were left to heal without proper medical attention as they were now, they would fuse off-centre and that would cause future problems for the petite, black-haired girl. There her also the fragments of bone that would need removing.

Perhaps they could get Inoue-san to fix her? No. That would cause too much suspicion. A Taichō being M.I.A. for several hours after last being seen covering the escape of the unit she was leading, only to show up perfectly fine and without a single scratch on her? The questions and accusations would be endless for her.

A soft moan brought Yoruichi out of her train of thought shifted her attention away from the girl's damaged leg.

"H-huh? Wh-Where am I?" The current Onmitsukidō Commander breathed out, before a look of comprehension flooded her face. "_Gasp! _Yoruichi-sama!" She tried to sit up and look around, but was stopped by a hand gently pressing down on her shoulder, keeping her flat against the ground.

Suì-Fēng looked down at the hand and saw the deeply tanned flesh resting just below her collarbone.

Following the ebony skin upwards she found the beautiful face of her former mentor staring back at her with a kind smile plastered across her lips.

The Second Division Captain was stunned. So she really hadn't imagined things, Yoruichi really was back, and it really was Yoruichi that saved her from who, or whatever that man was.

The memories of how she was abandoned those long, one hundred and fourteen years ago and how she had betrayed the Gotei 13 to save that blonde malcontent and all those Taichōs and Fukutaichōs who had been put through one of his 'hollow experiments' suddenly came to the front of her mind.

All the feelings of hate and betrayal she had felt towards her former teacher suddenly raged to the surface, and caused her to lash out in a fit of full body movement, in a attempt to attack the woman seated next to her.

"Why did yo-AHH!" The outburst was cut off the second some of her weight was put onto her left leg and instead a loud scream of pain echoed off the walls of the dilapidated construct. A harsh torrent of pain shot through her knee and she crumpled to the ground in heap.

There were audible sniffs and hiccups as Yoruichi stayed silent, staring at the crying bundle her past-pupil. The impassive expression on her face offered no clue as to what she was feeling.

Till she let out a long breath.

"I know you're angry at me, Little Bee, and I know you want answers. But right now, there are far more important things happening for us to sit around talking, trying to make amends with each other. Do you understand?" Her tone, though stoic, held a almost hidden layer of remorse and sorrow.

Suì-Fēng lifted her head slightly to look at the teacher she once had, showing that she was listening. Yoruichi saw the girl's puffy red eyes looking at her, and let out another breath, knowing that she was paying attention and would have to explain a few things if Suì-Fēng asks about them.

"Okay.. Now where to start?" She asked out loud, with a finger on her chin, unsure of what point she should start with. Finding something, she shrugged and began.

"The person who did that to you, Suì-Fēng, is the older brother of one of the girls whom I had broken into the Seireitei with, the one that the Kuchiki girl gave her powers to, to be precise." The still distraught girl's eyes shot wide open, but Yoruichi raised a hand to stop any questions. "The kids were not aware that he had followed us into the Soul Society. I, in fact, am the only one out of our little rescue party who actually knows he is here. So don't start assuming that we were making him act as a distraction to draw someone out."

Suì-Fēng eyed her mentor for a few brief moments, then nodded slowly. She wasn't actually planning on assuming anything like that, well, not now anyway, but at least it answered a few questions that she would've asked later.

"So, why is he here then?" Suì-Fēng asked. She didn't need to ask about why Yoruichi or those 'kids' were here, as she had already figured out that they were here to save that Kuchiki noble.

Yoruichi sat there looking deep in thought, before returned a question back at the Second Division Taichō

"Did any of those bodies you found.. Did any of them have no head?" Is what she asked in a flat tone. You could easily see the hopeful, almost pleading, expression on her face.

"Y-Yes, why?" Suì-Fēng recoiled slightly from the rather morbid question. Having gotten into a more upright position, she waited for the mocha-skinned, Shunpo master to answer back. She watched as the older woman's face shifted to sadness, instead of hope.

"That only confirms my fears then.. He is here to hunt.."

* * *

Wrenching his Wrist-Blades out of the chest of the man standing before one of the side entrances to this battlement of Shinigami, Ichigo held that man's mouth shut to muffle the gurgled crying that would had alerted anyone else nearby. The strawberry-blonde watched through his Bio-Mask as the eyes of his latest kill rolled into the back of his head, signifying his death.

Dropping the body uncaringly to the ground and wiping the fresh gore off of his twin blades, Ichigo stalked towards the doors blocking his way inside.

* * *

"What do you mean hunt, Yoruichi?" Suì-Fēng asked, she didn't think what that man -brother- had done to all those Shinigami could in anyway be something that is done while hunting. "What has the World of the Living come to since I was last there, that that is considered hunting!?" The mix of distress, physical pain and emotional turmoil quickly returning in the form of aggravated confusion being directed at her former mentor.

Yoruichi didn't answer immediately, choosing to internalise her answer and thinking about how much she should reveal.

"It is a very long story, which I am not willing to tell you right now." Suì-Fēng was about to protest, but Yoruichi continued. "We simply do not have enough time." The injured girl retracted whatever she was about to say. "But I will tell you this. The world has not changed, it's just that at a very young age Ichigo-kun was kidnapped, and from what his family and I have gathered and learnt from the very few words he has spoken, his captors have been training him and teaching him to hunt non-stop, up until a few days ago, when he returned."

"I still fail to understand how _that_ was considered hunting!" Suì-Fēng interrupted. "That kind of disregard for one's life and body is inhuman!"

"Well, you're not entirely wrong about it being inhuman." Yoruichi told her, causing the black-haired woman to stop and give her a confused stare.

"Huh? What are you talking about, Yoruichi?" she questioned. "Are you suggesting that that person isn't human?"

This is where Yoruichi need to be careful where she was treading with her answers. If she hinted at the fact that he was born part Shinigami, part Quincy, he would be hunted down for the rest of his existence for being an 'abomination' of some kind and deemed a threat to the souls of the living. While it was mostly true that he was already a threat to _all_ mankind, It was a hazard that could be easily prevented.

However it was not only him that would be in danger, now that her old protégée knew that he was in fact Karin's sister, she would also be targeted, along with the other two family members.

"He is human, Suì-Fēng, albeit a human who was born with a lot more Reiryoku than the average living being, but human nonetheless." She began explaining. It wasn't a complete lie. He was human. But he was by what they were; mortal, and still very much alive. His Chain of Fate still bound his body and soul together and he could be seen (When he wasn't cloaked, that is) by other living beings. "Rather, it is his captors that aren't exactly human."

"So, if they're not human, what are they then?" Suì-Fēng questioned, trying to get as much information from her past tutor as possible.

"I would tell you if I could, Little Bee, but I cannot." She responded with a half lie, as she moved to get to her feet. "Now, we've waited long enough I think, so it's time to get going." She told her ex-student.

"Just one more question." Suì-Fēng told her sternly. "Why did you tell me this? What is stopping me from going straight to the Sōtaichō and telling him all of the information that you just told me?" She could see the sly smile creeping onto the neko-woman's face the moment she asked.

"What's stopping you, Suì-Fēng, is that you're already going to be in enough trouble for failing your mission to kill or capture Ichigo, which I suspect is why you were there, no?" Yoruichi retorted, seeing her Little Bee's frown crease in annoyance, the previous Taichō of the Second Division knew she was right.

"Furthermore, it's going to be hard explaining how you suddenly acquired such knowledge without admitting that you were consorting with the enemy, and with the death of that Fukutaichō of yours, doing so would more than likely lead to you being immediately stripped of your rank, and then imprisoned for treason." She finished.

The injured girl on the ground before her was visibly shaking from anger. No doubt realising that everything that Yoruichi was indeed right. The last image of her Fukutaichō's skull flashed through her mind. She hadn't seen it when she was waiting for the man to make a move, but when she had gotten up close, a brief second before it had exploded from her leg colliding with it, she vaguely remembered seeing a grid-like pattern etched into the flesh of the fat man's head.

The brown-skinned goddess leaned down to pick up the younger Commander. Gently sliding and arm under the exposed thigh, then under its still covered twin, she picked up the petite girl with a large degree of care and kindness, her other arm hooked behind her back. Suì-Fēng was brought out of her small trance and could not stop the blood rushing to her cheeks from the skin on skin contact.

"Aww, you're just too adorable, my Little Bee." The purple haired woman teased, further increasing the blush.

"Sh-Shut it, Yoruichi!" The woman couldn't help but laugh at the other's embarrassment. "The only reason I'm letting you touch me is because I have to return to the Seireitei to report my findings. And you happen to be the fastest way there!" The current Commander-in-Chief of the Onmitsukidō shouted.

"Tsk, tsk, Shaolin-chan, don't you know that it is rude to shout at your elders?" All she got was a growl in response.

"Oh, and one last thing." Yoruichi stopped, remembering something that she forgot to say. "I would highly suggest _against_ killing Ichigo."

"What!? Why would you suggest something like that?! Did you not see all the Shinigami he had killed?!" Suì-Fēng shouted in outrage and incredulity.

"First of all, he, along with the four other kids, are my responsibility while we're here. And Second, I do not think that it would be worth risking the lives of everyone in the World of the Living just to eliminate one 'threat.'" Her tone was serious and contained none of that playful mirth from a few seconds ago.

"What are you talking about, 'risking the lives of everyone in the World of the Living'?" Grey eyes narrowed in uncertainty. "Who or what could be strong enough to pose a threat to the entire human race?"

Yoruichi's answer had her utterly perplexed.

"A very angry mother."

* * *

**_Sorry that this chapter is a bit shorter, or that there was no real action. But I really needed a chapter to bridge the gap between them being in the Rukongai and the Seireitei, and I thought that it was a good place to end it._**

**_I have a question I want to run by you guys._**

**_Would next chapter be too early to _start _the Zaraki-Ichigo fight? It will most likely be the meeting and the beginning of the fight in the last quarter of the chapter, once I've established Ichigo's current situation and recalled all the actions he's done since 'departing' with Soi-Fon. _**

**_Also, I've been getting a couple of reviews saying I've made typos and spelling errors. If you see any major ones and you are going to review PLEASE tell me so I can fix it (if it hasn't already)! Do keep in mind that I am from NZ so we spell certain words differently to other countries._**

**_REVIEWS: _**

**_friaku: _**_That __whole chapter was satisfying to write, there's something about writing a chapter of unadulterated violence and uncensored gore that makes me feel great. As psychotic as that may sound, it's nice knowing that other's enjoy reading it, y'know? hahaha! Thank's for the review as always :D_

**_Zaralann:_**_ Right from the very start of this story I had always to do something cruel to Omaeda, haha. And yes, I will be changing his inner world to be more appropriate to his current self. _

_**dragonlord1337: **You are spot on with your analysis of the previous chapter. Soi-fon was indeed the safest there, and hanatarou was not fit to be considered prey. Nice work! Thanks for the review! :)_

**_Brad W: _**_I have been asked about the Black Warrior a few times and have considered maybe including him. But at the current time he wont be included. I would have to start reading all the comics and novels in the Predator franchise before I started something like that though (Simply don't know enough about it yet etc). Thanks for reviewing! :D_

**_Harbinger of Kaos: _**_I'm still very much undecided on a 'romance' for Ichigo and I cannot say for certain there will be one, but it all depends on how I go about writing the rest of the story. Also I did the shower scene for character development to show you that Ichigo isn't shy about the body. And to show Yoruichi starting her attempt to placate Ichigo through teasing._

**_SeanHicks4: _**_He will be getting Zangetsu, I mentioned it in a couple of reviews, it will just be a Zangetsu that is more appropriate for this Ichigo. _

_**Thanks everyone!**  
_

_**- Gorgantuan**_


	17. Agony and Fate

"Sigh.. _Ichigooo, I grow tired of watching you slay these Shinigami." _That voice called to him again. Its usual blood thirst had been sated for a while after Ichigo had done what it had told him to do, but now it seemed to be back and was apparently bored of seeing Ichigo butcher these men that called themselves Soul Reapers.

Observing as a man he had cut in half, with his Smart-Disk, during that high-speed technique they were capable of, he watched as the halved man attempted to pull himself away from his assailant. The man's expression was beginning to glaze over with an emotionless mask as he bled out, his organs trailing out of his chest, and he slowly fell into the cold embrace of death.

That rapid movement ability that they were able to utilise had initially confused Dead Eye. But as he had continued to fight that man who thought he had him captured, he had quickly figured that they were not just disappearing and reappearing from one spot to another at will, but rather, upon seeing long, flattened lines of grass connecting his previous and current points he soon came to the realisation that they just moved to a predetermined spot by more-or-less firing their bodies in the direction they wish to go.

It was when he had watched that overweight man try to run from his group, using the same ability, and ended up smashing face first into a tree, that Ichigo had then realised that once they had started it they could not stop or change direction, effectively making it that much easier for Ichigo to predict where they would appear. He just had to watch for the subtle muscle movements and the direction their body was leaning towards the moment before they shifted into the high-speed movement technique.

The fat man with the crest on his arm, and the jewellery on his hands and neck had been a great experimental subject to test his theories on. The moment he had begun his technique, Ichigo had fired off a shot from his Net Launcher to catch the tall man mid-way through his action.

It had proven successful.

Pinned to a tree, slowly being crushed and carved by the tightening wire net was the rotund man. Proving that their bodies were indeed still present as they shifted, almost invisible, from point to point.

Leaving the bodies of the guards littered around the entrance he had broken through, Ichigo continued into the maze of buildings waiting for the companion inside his head to start up again.

"_None of our prey has been a threat to us, Ichigo.. But I can feel it, in the air and in the bodies of the men you have killed. They are out there, waiting. Waiting for you to claim their heads. Waiting for you to hunt them down." _Ichigo could feel it as well. There was an sort of inevitability hanging in the air, like a certainty of violence, or the undoubtable feeling of great agony to come.

Ichigo did not reply to the voice, there was no need, as they had always known what each other would say and answer with. He also could not afford the distraction. Others would be coming to help those who were already dead, though there was nothing that they could actually do anymore, and risking contact with numerous hostiles within their own territory, in search of greater prey, would only increase his risk of being killed or captured.

He had weighed his options and chose against the possibility of a acquiring a stronger foe. While every option he chose had its own inherent risks, that risk was not one that he was willing to take right now.

Using his well-trained leg muscles he launched himself onto the nearby roof of a building to attempt to get a better view of the surrounding environment.

He saw nothing but the orange tile coverings for miles around, the only break were the taller buildings with slightly more intricate framework, and the large grouping of tall, pillar-like structures in the centre of it all, their bright white colouring appeared much cleaner in contrast to the dirty yellowish-orange that his feet stood atop of.

A sheer pillar of rock jutting up beside the gathering of taller buildings caught Ichigo's attention.

_"We could use that to greatly increase our scouting range, Ichigo. No doubt that your Bio-Mask's Pheromone Vision would be much more effective while used at such heights." _The resident in his head intoned, as Ichigo remained quiet as usual, the only indication that he had listened was that he suddenly pushed off of the tiles he was on and leapt to the neighbouring building, heading in the direction of the giant pillar of rock.

* * *

"..Suì-Fēng-Taichō..!" The woman heard her name being called out to her, though her mind barely registered it as pain shot through her body, dulling her senses.

Yoruichi had dropped her off a few hundred feet outside one of the entry ways into the Seireitei, in an alley somewhere, so that the dark-skinned woman would not be seen. This had forced Suì-Fēng to hobble on one leg the rest of the way to her destination.

Her travels had been agonisingly slow, made only harder when her foot would end up catching on an uneven surface and would be forced to either fall to the ground, hard, or stabilise herself with her still horribly damaged left leg.

After she had taken a rather particularly nasty fall when her foot caught on seemingly nothing, her loud yell in frustration had garnered the attention of a few of the local populace of the district she was currently in. They had instantly spotted the dark-clad woman, that was trying to make her way to the Seireitei inconspicuously, lying on the ground behind their houses. All had rushed to her aid straight away.

Begrudgingly she accepted their help and had let them carry her to one of the many, more discreet, entrances into the Seireitei. Though Suì-Fēng had ordered them to let her go on her own once they were close enough, as so she wasn't seen being in need of an aide by one of the Gotei's lesser Shinigami, or possibly one of her subordinates.

She had an image to keep up after all.

When she had reached her destination the pain in her leg was flaring harshly from all the jostling and bumping around from when she was being carried, and was slowly going numb from said pain.

The Taichō of the Second hadn't even noticed the male Shinigami lying in a pool of his own blood, dark bruises in the shape of a massive hand surrounding his lips, despite her being one of the most vigilant warriors the Gotei 13 had to offer. She had just kept on going.

When Suì-Fēng had finally gotten past the walls and into the Seireitei, the shouting had begun. But as the calls were drowned out by the ringing in her ear, she could only watch their mouths move as they tried to tell her something.

"Just get me to the Fourth Division, you imbeciles!" She growled out, seeing them all flinch at her harsh tone.

One of, what she could only assume was, the upper ranked Shinigami turned around and started to yell orders at his subordinates, Suì-Fēng saw them nod in acknowledgement.

That's when Suì-Fēng took stock of what was actually going on around her and why this unnecessary amount soldiers were here.

Just inside the entrance she had entered through were numerous bodies of the Shinigami, probably six all up. Deep, crimson-coloured blood smeared across the smooth surface that they walked on. The second she saw a large hole in the chest of one of the Shinigami being lifted into a body bag, she knew what had happened.

Ichigo had entered the Court of Pure Souls.

Feeling someone tuck their hands cautiously under her arms and legs, then begin lifting her, she noticed that they were putting her onto a stretcher that had probably come from one the medical relief teams that are ordered to patrol the maze of paths between divisions during times of urgency or alert.

Normally Suì-Fēng would have shouted at the person who dared to put their hands on her, but her mind was too busy trying to conjure up a believable report that would need to be sent to the Sōtaichō to inform him of the events that took place on the mission she had partaken in, and to alert him of the hostile that, she was now aware, had broken into the premises of the Gotei 13. But she opted to remain silent as the two medical staff carried her away.

As they took her away from the scene surrounding them, Suì-Fēng noticed the man who had been cleanly cut in half at the waist, much like one of the bodies had been back in the forest of the Rukongai.

Images and memories of that grotesque scene flashed through her mind. The traces of decay and rot emitting the distinct, foul scent of death and decomposition.

And those skinned bodies.

She knew that picture was one that would not be cleansed from her mind for a very long time. The recollection of their flayed, gutted and impaled bodies standing upright, a larval infestation slowly consuming them, caused her to involuntarily gag.

"If it _was _intimidation that he was aiming for.. It definitely worked.." The Stealth Corps Commander muttered under her breath.

"Taichō?" The man holding the back end of the stretcher she was lying on questioned, having heard his superior say something that he could not quite make out.

"You would do well to mind your own business, soldier." She accepted the distraction from the memories. At least the pain seemed to be easing up now, and her ear were working. "Now, both of you, stop being such incompetent relief workers, and get me to the Fourth Division! And Fast!"

"Hai, Suì-Fēng-Taichō!" She took satisfaction in their frightened reactions, and was pleased that they had stop mucking around, deciding to get there by way of synchronised Shunpo. Albeit a slow flash step, it was faster than what their previous pace had been.

_Thirty minutes later. Fourth Division._

"Why does everyone look so.. On edge?" The man at the front of the make-shift gurney asked quietly, as they made their way into the main corridors of the Fourth Division building.

True to his word everyone did look very on edge and nervous as they completely their daily routine and the various tasks that were set for them to do. They all seemed to be checking over their shoulders every now and then, and cautiously walking around corners and through doorways. Like they were afraid something might jump out at them or be waiting around the corner for them.

"It's like they're all scared.." The one behind Suì-Fēng hypothesised, looking at the many pale faces of the Fourth's Shinigami.

"Forget about them! Just find me to a room and I'll have Unohana-Taichō get a couple of healers take a look at me so that you two can get back to work!" Suì-Fēng ordered the two, her patience quickly wearing down as they only delayed her the medical attention she needed.

Then a soft voice cut through the sound of everyone's work.

"That will not be necessary, Suì-Fēng-Taichō. I had an inkling that you might be in need of my division's expertise after receiving a report indicating that you had engaged in combat with the hostile to cover your team's escape.. I appears that I was correct in that suspicion.." The Captain of the Fourth, Unohana Retsu, gently spoke.

Her voice seemed so incredibly wrong. You could hear the usual caring and kind tones emanating from it. But underneath it all you could hear the voice of one whom held absolutely no love for another's life. It was like a sinner hiding behind the mask of a saint. A complete one hundred and eighty degree turn from what Suì-Fēng had come to know as Unohana-Taichō's regular, soft-spoken attitude.

Turning around as best she could to look at the only other female Taichō, Suì-Fēng flinched at the change in appearance of her elder. Though subtle, the changes were evidently quite unsettling to those who were around to see them.

Instead of the usual neatly plaited hairstyle cascading down her front, it was now a simple, loose ponytail that could easily come untied by any form of exercise or quick movement.

Unohana's Zanpakutō, most of the time, was not on her person. Or when it was it would be tied to her back by the sheath. But now was neither of those times, as It currently resided at her hip, just ready to be drawn and used to bring down anyone who gets in her way.

But as the glow of the dusking sun cask dark shadows on the woman's beautiful features, Suì-Fēng saw the frightening expression currently laden upon the face of Unohana Retsu.

Her eyes were gloomy and half-lidded, and the smile that could petrify anybody from the Eleventh Division seemed to now be affixed to her face and laced across her lips, in a cruel, sadistic, and even taunting-like manner as if to challenging you into making any aggresive move against her.

Suì-Fēng could feel a drip of perspiration running down the side of her head as she was being stared down by one of the 'Nicest' Captains of the Court Guard Squads. Her face paled noticeably when she felt a wisp of killing intent radiate out of the ever-graceful healer.

"You must be suffering from severe blood loss, Suì-Fēng-Taichō. You are looking extremely pale. Perhaps we should move into your designated room, so that I may be able to heal you before any irreparable damage is caused? I would hate for you to die on me, after all." She _ordered_. There was no arguing against this beast in beauty's skin. Especially with Unohana in her current mood.

All three, the two carrying the medical stretcher, and the Taichō that was currently sitting on it, followed after the woman in charge of the hospital they were walking through. None of them dared to speak, for fear that they would aggravate their superior in some way. Though this idea could've been construed as ridiculous, they did not want to take any chance to be stared at like that again.

Entering an empty room, Unohana led the two men carrying Suì-Fēng over to the only bed present in the generously large, single patient room that the Second Taichō knew as one of the few rooms used to house injured Captains's that were required to stay for extended periods of time.

"Please place Suì-Fēng-Taichō here." The blue-eyed Captain gestured towards the bed, and the Shinigami followed as directed.

Watched them as they carefully disassembled the cloth gurney, the wounded Taichō lifted herself up off the fabric that now had a large bloodstain where her knee had been and slowly eased herself back down onto the white sheeted cot.

The two relief squad members quickly rushed to the exit of the room, wanting to get away from the frightening gaze of the Taichō of the Fourth. But not before they turned sharply and bowed towards the two female Shinigami deeply to acknowledge their superiors with proper respect. Once done, they fled the scene with their tails tucked between their legs.

"Cowards." Suì-Fēng muttered under her breath.

"Now.. Suì-Fēng-san," The lady being spoken to froze. "Yamamoto-Sōtaichō will be here momentarily to listen to a spoken report from you, as I have already taken the liberty of informed him that you will not be leaving my care until such time that I have deemed you fit to do so, therefore making you unable to return to your division to attend to your duties." Suì-Fēng nodded. Even before 'this' Unohana, it was an unspoken law to _not_ go against her rules whilst you are under her medical care, for risk of suffering her wrath. So the injured Captain did not protest.

"Before I begin administering a Diagnostic Kidō to unveil the extent of your injuries.. I would like to ask you a few, simple, mandatory questions, Suì-Fēng-san." Retsu inquired, as she gingerly touched the edges of the slit-shaped puncture wounds in her patients leg.

Suì-Fēng quietly hissed at the contact that sent a small pulse of pain through her system, indicating that her nerves around the entry points were still very much operational.

"Yes, that's fine, Unohana-Taichō." She grated out, disliking the tender soreness her knee produced.

"There is no need for such formalities. We are, after all, of the same rank." She chided lightly as she continued to inspect the trauma inflicted upon the Taichō's knee.

Suì-Fēng couldn't tell if she was hiding a hidden meaning behind her words or not with such an blatant and obvious fact. She was about to speak but she saw the older Shinigami open her mouth to do so herself.

"First, Suì-Fēng-san, I must ask: How did you come about receiving this injury?" Unohana asked.

She had seen that question coming from a mile away, and truthfully, she was ashamed to answer it. She had become too eager to claim the advantage of being the first to cause injury, and it had been her one and only mistake in that fight. Hell. If Yoruichi hadn't come along she would more than likely be dead right now; being strung up like one of those skinless, gutless slabs of meat, with a Zanpakutō through her head.

"I underestimated my enemy and got overconfident in thinking if I attacked first, that I would get the upper hand." Suì-Fēng answered, it was the truth, or at least, as much as she was willing to reveal.

"While that is useful information to be used in the report you will be giving, it does not help me in any way regarding your healing. So I will ask again, in a more straight forward manner: What caused your Injury, Suì-Fēng-san?" Was this woman getting.. Impatient with her?

Wait.. What's going on? Why was she asking these questions in the first place? Was there not a form that patients could simply fill out to answer these kinds of questions?

And why was Unohana the one taking care of her? Sure, her injury was bad, but Suì-Fēng didn't think that it was severe enough to require the attention of the Taichō of the Fourth and the best healer in the entirety of the Soul Society. So why not put her Lieutenant, Kotetsu Isane, onto the job? Or a couple of seated officers?

"When I attacked the enemy, he successfully blocked my kick and managed to grab hold of me while I was mid-air, effectively stopping me from escaping without some form of retaliation." Suì-Fēng started, driving her thoughts away from the elegant female sitting next to her, and into a much darker place. It might have been a bad idea to do so. But, questioning the judgment of Unohana-Taichō was an even worse one.

"But before I could do anything, or even react properly, he had already thrown his punch." She stopped, _very_ vividly remembering what came next.

"I see.." Unohana breathed out. ".. And the puncture wounds?" Retsu queried further.

"I only saw them for a moment, but the target appeared to have a pair of retractable blades attached to his wrist by some kind of gauntlet. But I cannot tell you for certain if that is what they were, as I barely had much time to look at them." Suì-Fēng answered yet again. The truth was that she only remembered seeing the tips of the blades as they pierced her leg, alongside a steel-grey colour wrapped around Ichigo's forearm. Suì-Fēng just guessed as to what it actually was.

Looking over at Unohana, Suì-Fēng saw the serene smile that graced her features and was taken aback slightly at how calm she appeared to be about the whole situation. Normally her attitude would be a tad bit more.. concerned for the health of her patient. But she remained there, her body language only showing a level of ease that almost would be inappropriate for the situation, as she sat there with her hand neatly clasped over her lap.

"And the damage to the tendons and muscle tissue?" The question nearly inaudible.

'What?! How could she possibly know what I was injured to that extent?' The Second Squad Taichō internalised, her voice yelling in confusion. Suzumebachi had to, not so gently, remind the short-haired woman that Unohana-san had been in charge of the Fourth Division for longer than her soul-partner has been alive, and probably knew more about a Shinigami's anatomy than Suì-Fēng did about unarmed-combat.

"Uhh.. He.. He didn't let go of my leg." Suì-Fēng stammered, still embarrassed about the outburst inside her head. The younger Captain should have known that and known the reason for knowing such a thing was easily justified.

"Didn't let go? Please explain, Suì-Fēng-san." Unohana asked, her sweet timbre infused with an inquisitive hue.

The Onmitsukidō Commander flinched at that part of the memory and creased her eyebrows together into a deep frown thoroughly hating having to recollect that part of the mortifying experience.

"Because I was in a more-or-less horizontal position when the injury was inflicted, I was unable to get my feet underneath me to stand, or stay suspended in air. So, since he hadn't released his grip on my leg, the rest of my body fell putting all of my weight onto the joint.." Suì-Fēng could not stop a sudden cringe from feeling the shadow of the pain that she was once suffering through, but remained silent, knowing treatment would come soon, and the pain would at least be numbed. The silence remained, and not a thing was heard.. Except some barely audible panting.

Looking back over to the Taichō that would be taking care of her, Suì-Fēng saw her still sitting there on the chair that she had claimed when they entered the room. However, all was not normal with Unohana Retsu.

Suì-Fēng stared, as she observed the changes to the normally impassive and kind healer.

Her cheeks were tinted with a light dusting of pink, indicating a increased flow of blood to her beautiful face. That same face now held an expression that was best described as euphoric. Unohana's eyes were almost completely lidded, the visible part of her deep blue eyes were utterly glazed over. And her lips were separated, her mouth agape slightly, as ragged, tangibly humid breathes escaped from her lungs.

She also now held one of her hands to her chest, right over her heart, seemingly to steady her rapid heart rate. The other hand lay on her inner thigh, slightly closer to her body than it was before. And her legs. It was her legs that gave what was happening to her away.

In a slow, subtle, gyrating motion, Unohana was shifting her thighs against each other, the friction from the rubbing heating her loins and easing the growing torturous need for sexual relief.

Unohana Retsu. The Taichō of the Fourth Division, and the greatest healer to ever come out of Shin'ō Academy, was being aroused by the violence and Pain that had been inflicted up her fellow Taichō!

Suì-Fēng looked at her in disgust, and the realisation hit her as hard as the punch Ichigo had thrown.

_This _was the reason that she was attending to her!? _This _was why she talked to her before the arrival and presence of the Sōtaichō? And why she asked all those menial questions?! To please herself and to feel _excited_!?

What... What the fuck is wrong with this woman!?

Suì-Fēng was only a few moment short of screaming obscenities at the long-haired Taichō, who she now knew had, to some degree, sadomasochistic tendencies, but stopped upon hearing a heated, but content, voice.

"Thank you, Suì-Fēng-san.. Your answers have been very.. Enlightening.."

* * *

_"Hmm? Why did you stop, Ichigo?"_ That distinctly male voice inside of his mind asked, as the teenaged hunter came to a stop on top of a large building he'd had to climb up, partially, as he was incapable of jumping the entire height.

Ichigo remained silent for a short minute, scouting his surroundings, then replied to the higher pitched voice.

'I can hear bells.. I could not hear them before.. So why do I hear them now?' He questioned, trying to find the source of the noise. He did not know why this sound intrigued him so. He would have passed it off as someone playing with chimes or bells in the neighbouring buildings. But the noise was not echoing through the surrounding environment. Instead, it seemed to be reverberating around, inside his skull.

_"I do not hear anyth-.. Ohh.. I hear them now, Ichigo."_ The inner voice told him, initially oblivious as to what Ichigo was referring to. But once he had actually focused on listening for something, he had faintly heard that melodic ringing. Though it was incredibly distant at the moment, it seemed to be closing in gradually.

His soon-to-be wielder was amazing. Far beyond anything that he would have originally been. Had his real mother not been killed, and had he not been taken away from his family, he would have likely ended up in a pit of self-loathing, being unable to properly vent his emotional distress sufficiently. And would have likely mourned over the loss of his mother for years to come.

The voice had to thank Dark Knife for taking Ich- No. For taking Dead Eye. He had given Dead Eye a way of venting himself and letting go of useless emotions, such as fear, sadness, and regret. More-so the former.

Dark Knife had helped him surpass that wall of emotion and rise up to become the efficient killing machine he was now. He was a being of highly-trained, instinctual prowess, to a point where he overtook his own clan in regards to pure killing power. He was, however, not without flaw and limitations.

His body often took more damage from the power it was trying to contain than it did from the enemy he was fighting.

His speed at which he ran was below that of any of those greater powered Shinigami.

And Ichigo would also never be capable of naturally containing any amount of his crushingly powerful Reiatsu. It was, simply put, too violent to be tamed. But there was no need, as the technology and gear that the Yautja had supplied Dead Eye with was.. Well.. It was superior.

Superior to anything and everything that the boy would be able to do, if he became capable of actually suppressing his malevolent levels of Reiatsu.

But the voice was proud to be Kurosaki "Dead Eye" Ichigo's soon-to-be Zanpakutō. Even though he had yet to be used and released from his confinement from within the enclosed space of Ichigo's mind and human body. But soon, he would be free. Free to be used by his wielder and partner of the soul. He could feel it.. Ichigo would be calling his name soon..

The crunching sound of a concrete wall being destroyed, immediately garnered Ichigo's attention. The echoing of the large explosion of sound was perfectly synchronised with the latest bell toll.

Looking over the edge of the building he was currently atop of, he looked down to where he could see a cloud of dirt and debris rising off the ground. However, it wasn't that that had caught his attention, rather, it was the large man running straight out of aforementioned cloud whom had Ichigo's eyes locked and focused.

Judging by appearances he was likely slightly taller than him, and of extremely similar build, unlike that short woman whose knee he had decimated.

Ichigo watched him sprinting full tilt in his direction. A manic smile plastered on the man's face and his weapon ready at his hip. That's when he noticed the small pieces of metal attached to the tips of his hair. Bells.

_"It's him, Ichigo! It's him, it's him, it's hiiim!" _The voice was screaming, elatedly. Ichigo had never felt such raw emotion coming from the person screaming inside of his head. _"I can feel the power surging from that man, Ichigo! Even through all of the power you produce!"_ The psychotically excited voice continued. _"We have found him, Ichigo. This man is going to be the greatest prey we will have yet to hunt."_

Walking to the side of the building, Ichigo didn't stop as the ground fell away beneath his feet. He started to drop down, and with the final foot he pushed himself of the roof altogether. His landing spot being directly in the way of the charging Shinigami.

_'Go, Ichigo. This fight will not be in anyway easy.. I can feel your agony and suffering already creeping up on you.. Make me proud to be your Zanpakutō.' _This went unheard to Ichigo as the spirit of Ichigo's Zanpakutō did not say it out loud. Knowing that Dead Eye would need no motivation in this fight of seemingly pre-determined fate

Fate.. What a ridiculous concept.

* * *

_**Got this chapter out quite a bit earlier for you guys. :)**_

_**Before you start saying stuff like "How does Kenpachi know where Ichigo is? etc etc" just wait. thing will be explained soon enough. **_

_**Also I'm not too sure whether or not they have any other entrances into the S.S. other than the massive gates. But to me. It makes sense that they would. I mean why open the massive gate just to let one person through? Also I may have read on the Wiki somewhere that they did, but I cant remember where I read it.**_

_**Not much else to say this time, aside from "Shit is about to go down."**_

_**Please forgive any errors. I try my best to have as little as possible.**_

_**REVIEWS: **_

_**Zaralann: **It is unlikely that I will pair up Nel with Ichigo. Just because I see her as a pacifist and completely against violence. Meaning that Ichigo would just appear to be more a calm version of Nnoitra to her. Thanks for the Kind words as always :)_

_**Phantom Dark-Knight: **I have to admit. I rather.. enjoyed.. writing the part with Masa wanting to claim Ichigo Hahaha. I don't think I will have them interact like a pairing, but there will be more activity between them eventually. Maybe I'll find another Yautja woman? Who knows. Thank you for the review._

_**tctilly: **Yeah, it is more of a status given to her because she was the eldest and most experienced Yautja female on their clan's ship, rather than a royalty thing.  
_

**_lejoie21: _**_Ichigo rescue Rukia? HA. Sorry, but that's not why he is in the Soul Society. Maybe unintentionally. But no.. he's not there to rescue. And what happens next? If you had read the authors note from last chapter you would know. :) Ty for the review_

_**dragonlord1337: **I had considered making his weapon some kind of mix between the Yautja Combi-Stick and a Whip (similar to that of Ikkaku and Renji's weapons, in that they are extendible and segmented) A may stick with that, unless I can think of something better. Appreciate the input a lot :D  
_

**_Reality and Fiction:_**_ I do not believe I have, in anyway, made Ichigo appear to be too powerful. Nor have I even shown how strong he really is. We've only seen him use calculated and crippling moves against his enemies. He's not so powerful that he punches them anywhere and they are out for the count. He uses the body's natural weak points against them to maim them and stop them from being able to retaliate, so that he does not expend more energy than is necessary.- Not enough moment for character development? Have you not actually been reading the story, or the parts from his point of view? Because I've shown him with more emotions that just "Hunt" albeit not outwardly expressing those emotions often, but they are there. And Ichigo is far from perfect in this story. Sorry If I seem angry or rude, but all of the points in your review can easily be dis-proven and you were assuming things that I have never mentioned._

_**Guest: **There WILL be some kind of romance in this story for Ichigo, don't worry. I meant that I am undecided on the pairing itself._

_**Thanks everyone for the support! I've gotten over 200 fav's and follows now and almost 250 reviews. plus over 30,000 views and I'm super happy.**  
_

_**- Gorgantuan**_


	18. Grin of Death

"That way, Ken-chan!" A small, pink-haired child directed from atop the shoulder of the man she had called "Ken-chan". Her small pointer wagging towards a turn in the path that they had been following, her hand right in front of the face of the massive man she was currently using as her form of transport as she did.

"You sure, Yachiru?" The man, Zaraki Kenpachi being his real name, asked the comparatively tiny person on his shoulder. A face-splitting grin covering his face as he charged his way through the Seireitei to find someone whom he had only heard reports about, so far.

"Ya-huh! I can feel her over that way!" She waved her small finger in front of Kenpachi's face again, but this time in the direction that the path, that they were about to turn down, was going to lead them.

Kenpachi was beaming. The moment he had heard a report from his Third Seat, Madarame Ikkaku, saying that he had been beaten by one of the Ryoka, a girl no less, he had rushed at the opportunity to find the woman. He only hoped that once he had found her, that he would not be disappointed. The _possibility_ of finding another woman just like the old Unohana was too good of an opportunity to miss out on.

"Haha! Then let's not keep her waiting!" His cheer screaming bloodlust.

Barrelling his way down the tiled path he watched all the lesser Shinigami dive out of the way of the 'blood crazed maniac' so that they could avoid being run over by the monstrously sized man. Wise.

As they got to the corner that the current Yachiru sitting on his shoulder had said was the way to go, in order to get to this mystery girl, Kenpachi took a sharp turn, almost throwing the pinkette of with his momentum. Had she not already had years of experience riding, attached to his back, the girl more than likely would've ended up being slammed into the wall. But she held on tightly, obviously used to the motions of the man she thought of as her father.

Seeing a long path that was abruptly cut off by one of the walls that surrounded them, Kenpachi narrowed his eyes as he realised that Yachiru had lead him down a dead end, but he did not stop running.

"Oh, opps! Sorry, Ken-chan! I was sure that it was this way.. " She brought a finger up to her lips as she scrunched up her face trying to think of a different way that she could tell him to go next. "Oh! I remember now! You gotta go.. " The neon haired child called to Zaraki. But he seemed to be paying her no heed, instead he kept running, full-tilt, directly at the wall ahead of them.

"Hey! Kenny! You listening? You gotta go back that way if you wanna fight the girl!" She berated into his ear, trying to get her directions across, but as she pulled herself up to sit on the man's shoulder, instead of hang off of it, she saw the still present grin on his face and the only exposed eye was staring, unblinking, at a spot on the wall that was very quickly closing in. He soon answered back.

"I'm taking a short-cut, if that's okay with you." He asked his rhetorical question. No matter what Yachiru would have said would have made him change his mind, so she just braced herself for impact.

Charging straight into the wall headlong, Zaraki instantly causing the entire barrier to explode in a shower of shattered concrete and mortar, sending a plume of dust and dirt into the air, startling several nearby Shinigami that were out on patrol.

"Hehe! That was fun, Ken-chan!" Yachiru cheered as she shook the loose debris out of her vibrantly coloured hair.

"How far now, Yachiru?!" He asked, his visage showing nothing but ecstatic glee as they erupted out of the cloud of dust. "My skin is already _crawling_ with suspense!" He emphasised his growing need to quench his endless thirst for violence.

"No far now, Kenny! I can feel her just up ahead! And I think she's got friends that you can play with too!" Yachiru answered, telling the whole truth this time, knowing that the Taichō of the Eleventh Division would get mad if he got so close to fighting a worthy opponent, only to be led away.

What she had said was true; she could indeed feel a strong Reiatsu that she was not familiar with in the least. Someone of that calibre would have to be around Fukutaichō, and since the target was female, she was practically one hundred percent certain that she didn't know this person, due to her being in the presence of all the strongest women of the Gotei 13 on an almost weekly basis for the club meetings of the Shinigami Women's Association, and did not recognise it as anyone of the club members' Reiatsu.

"I guess that just means that this is going to be more fun than I first thought." His vicious grin stretching out wider than before. "We better not keep them waiting then." He finished as he kept charging down the long path at full speed.

A short distance ahead of him he saw the white tiles that paved the way ahead of him suddenly shatter under some invisible weight. He was already too close to change direction or just stop completely, so he chose to run straight through whatever was there.

"Yay! Ken-chan's gonna have fu- Wahh!" Yachiru yelped in surprise as she was thrown off of the shoulder of her Taichō, almost face-planting straight onto the hard ground, but her reaction time allowed her to quickly respond, doing a small front flip to bring herself upright so she would land on her feet.

"What was that for, Ken-chan?!" She exclaimed, the enormous man some thirty feet behind her. "Why did you throw me.. off.. your.. ?" She quickly became confused as she finally turned to face Kenpachi, and saw him standing there, the side of his chest leaking a small amount of blood, and straining to move something invisible.

Zaraki had been greatly surprised when whatever he had planned to run over had completely stopped him in his tracks. It had been like running straight into a wall of steel. He was even more surprised when he had suddenly felt something extremely sharp trying to pierce the side of his chest, and had only just managed to divert whatever was trying to kill him over his left shoulder. Not without repercussion, that is. He had grabbed was felt like an arm, and in shifting its trajectory it had ended up running a gash up from the halfway point on the side of his ribcage and straight up through his pectoral muscle.

It barely registered as a injury to the leader of the Eleventh Division. It was the strength of the invisible body that warranted his attention.

Kenpachi, alongside Komamura and Gramps, were the strongest (physically) Taichō's out of all the Thirteen Court Guard Squads. So the revelation of finding an opponent on par with his own physical strength was rather exhilarating.

"Hey.. " Kenpachi ground out, his voice slightly strained from trying to keep himself from being cut up further. ".. You going to show your face? Or am I going to have to fight you while you're invisible, like this?" Kenpachi growled. He could faintly see the basic shape of whomever he was holding back. But due to having only one available eye to view the world through he was slightly handicapped because his depth perception was not as keen as it should be if he had both eyes to look through. This was made worse by the blackening sky shadowing everything around him.

Both Yachiru and Zaraki waited on bated breath when they heard a crackling of electricity, and sharp snaps of static right after Kenpachi had finished his taunt.

The Eleventh Taichō raised a hairless brow when the spot he was expecting to be where the head of the person was, ended up being a heavily scarred chest, partially covered by several layers of plated steel, diamond pattern netting, and most shocking of all: somebody's ribcage.

Usually, when Zaraki Kenpachi fights someone, they are a great majority shorter than him. Normally by about a foot and a half due to his own height. However, much to his surprise this person seemed to be only a couple of inches shorter than him, and of almost the exact same build.

Tilting his head up to greet the face of the man he would be soon fighting, Zaraki's own face-splitting smile wavered momentarily when he saw the vicious smile on a blank canvas of darkened steel glaring straight back at him with its empty sockets.

The memory of the Captains meeting earlier that morning entered his mind. He only really remembered the part with the Jigokuchō. That was, however, all he needed to remember. The Shinigami that had sent it had told them all that something had killed off his entire elimination squad, and that the person had done it without them being able to sense him, as well as being completely out of sight.

Using what little sensing ability he had, Zaraki tried to read the orange-haired man's Reiatsu signature. But he came up short. Even though he openly admitted he was shit at sensing things any large distance away, at this close he should be able to do it. But nothing happened. He couldn't sense anything coming from the person.. And that invisible trick of his..

"So you're the guy who killed some of Tōsen's squad, huh?" His usual manic grin returning with full force. "I can already tell that I'm going to enjoy this."

* * *

In a darkened room beneath Division Five, a figure sat reclined in his chair staring at the only major source of light in the room. Watching the screen from behind his glasses, Taichō of the Fifth, Aizen Sōsuke observed as multiple lines of text appeared, providing him with new information of what was going on outside.

Pressing several buttons on the control panel before him, a small video feed appeared, displaying the moving images of the dark-haired teenager, known as Kurosaki Karin, as she ran through the maze of paths that covered the entirety of the Seireitei's inner structure, while being accompanied by her female friend Arisawa Tatsuki, and the Shiba male, Ganju.

A smile crept onto the man's face as he watched them progress ever closer to the target they were intending to rescue. The young noble girl, Kuchiki Rukia. They were completely oblivious to the fact that they were currently being spied upon, and that their actions were just the sparks to ignite the elaborate and carefully orchestrated plan several hundred years in the making.

Soon Aizen would be able to acquire the Hōgyoku from within the imprisoned girl, that had been labelled as a criminal by 'Central 46.' And soon he would be able to move forward with his plans to replace the Soul King and start changing the worlds and dimensions to become whatever he saw fit.

A door opening behind him, and the arrival of a Reiatsu that Aizen identified as one of his underlings, brought the man out of his musings.

"Ara, Aizen-Taichō, Keepin' an eye on the girl I see." The deceptively cheerful voice of one Ichiramu Gin called out to his fellow Captain, as he walked up next to him.

The scholar-looking man shifted, leaning on his right hand which was propped up underneath his chin. Glancing out of the corner of his eye to see the silver headed Shinigami standing next to him, that mocking smile that seemed to always be permanently affixed to his face, watching the same screen that he had just been staring at.

"I assume that you are not just here for simple pleasantries, Gin." The bespectacled man intoned calmly, returning his eyes to the screen in front of him.

"You know me too well, Aizen-Taichō." You could hear the light mirth coming from his voice as he responded. Sōsuke waited in silence for Ichimaru to say whatever it was that he had to tell him.

"I thought you'd like to hear the latest news about that.. 'Unknown factor' who went and killed part of Tōsen-san's squad." Aizen detected the miniscule hint of mischief hidden in the words spoke.

"That this 'person' has entered the Court Of Pure Souls?" The man sitting down inclined his head towards Gin. To which Gin responded with a sharp grin.

"Oh, so you know already?" The Taichō of the Third questioned, not actually surprised by the fact that Aizen already knew.

"Please, Gin, do not undermine my ability to acquire knowledge and information about subjects such as this. I am more than capable of figuring these kind of things out, even without the monitoring equipment." His words of warning did nothing to betray his cool demeanour, as he calmly watched Gin from out of the corner of his eye, but stayed facing the bright screen in front of him.

"I didn't mean to insult you, or 'undermine your abilities', as you say, Aizen-Taichō." Gin's smile still stuck on his face. "Just thought I'd make sure you knew."

Aizen gave a brief nod of acknowledgement, as if to accept Gin's excuse.

"That isn't the only bit of information I found out though. The Fukutaichō that was sent along with Suì-Fēng-Taichō to capture that person has been killed, and the Suì-Fēng herself was pretty badly injured, poor girl." His voice lacked any shred of that concern for his fellow Captain he spoke of. "But I'm sure you knew that part already." The silver-haired man finished.

"Oh? And how did you come about this information, Gin?" A dark brow was raised from behind the rim of the glasses that he wore.

"Aa, I just happened to come across Yamada-kun while he was being taken back to the Fourth Division, and I had a nice wee _chat_ with him and the Onmitsukidō members carryin' him. I have to say, they were rather frightened.. I wonder why..?" His ponderous expression almost seemed genuine.

"I'm sure we will find out more about the current situation when Yamamoto calls us in for the meeting that is likely to be announced." Aizen answered, unfazed by the news of Ōmaeda's death, the man was incompetent anyway. "But for now, return to your barracks, and wait for my instruction. Depending on this person's action, we may be able to use his presence to our advantage." He finished, returning his full attention back towards the screen in front of him.

"Hai, Aizen-Taichō." Gin bowed shortly, then walked off, exiting the same way he entered.

Left to his inner machinations, Aizen stared, brow very slightly creased, at the image of Kurosaki Karin running in the direction that he knew the barbaric Captain, Zaraki Kenpachi, would be in. He knew that if she was not strong enough Kenpachi would leave her alone due to finding no joy in the fight. Such simple men were so easy to manipulate, but if she was strong enough, then all he could do was wait and see. It was only this new factor that he had any concern for, in regards to disrupting his plans.

'Whoever you are, you're starting to become a great thorn in my side and are causing me to force my hand so early. And if you are brought under the wrong influence, you will become more of a hindrance than a beneficial component to me..' Aizen internalised, coming to the conclusion that the being has a high probability to become a serious threat if left unchecked.

Hitting a button on the panel in front of him the display dimmed then abruptly turn black. Completely missing the last few frames of the video feed showing Karin and her teammates turning the corner onto the very road that Zaraki and the new thorn of his elaborately woven plan were violently brawling in.

* * *

"HAHAHAA! This is great!" The immensely built man roared as he swung his nameless Zanpakutō downwards on top of his opposition. "To think that someone like you was hiding out in the Rukon District killing off those weakling Shinigami! Had I have known you were gonna turn out like this, I would have gone myself!" Drawing back his blade, Kenpachi swung it, aiming to cleave the equally large man in twain. Only for the slash to be blocked by the two crossed pairs of blood-soaked razors.

Lifting his feet off the ground, Ichigo used the momentum of the wide swing to launch him a short distance away, putting a decent gap between the two.

Shifting his gaze up to his prey, Dead Eye looked over the man with bells in his hair, to assess the impact his attacks had caused. Even behind the mask the late-teen's face showed no shift in emotion when he saw that the Death God before him did not appear effected in the least. Unsurprising though.

It had been a good twenty minutes since night fell upon their battle, and thirty minutes since the moment the two titans of muscle and bone had first clashed. In that time, Ichigo himself had sustained only minor injuries; several lacerations to his forearms, one score down the centre of his torso, and what had originally meant to be a brutal stabbing through the thigh, ended up only being a glancing blow thanks to Ichigo quickly dropping his body to the ground, away from the attack, and rolling back several feet.

The opponent though, had sustained far less injuries. But they, due to Ichigo's foreign fighting style, had ended up catching the swordsman off guard, and were arguably more detrimental to that man's health and future combat proficiency.

When Ichigo had broken through the man's guard, and wedged himself between the blunt side of the blade and the body of the male wielding that same blade, he had quickly driven his Wrist-Blades directly into the underside of the blade-fighter's upper arm.

Had Ichigo merely twisted, pulled, or ripped the dual blades out, severing the muscle entirely, instead of withdrawing them quickly so that he could get away, the arm would now have been rendered completely useless. Only to hang limp, unable to function properly since the bones, whose sinew gave it motion, would not be capable of doing such task themselves.

Alongside this were a scant few cuts and gouges marring the flesh of the semi-psychotic man, who of which was now staring directly at him as they rested for a silent moment.

Breaking that silence, Kenpachi decided to speak.

"Hey, what's your name?" His gravelly voice resounded through the area that was now starting to see small slicks of smeared blood splattered across the grounds they fought on.

The eldest Kurosaki child tilted his head slightly, a motion that told Kenpachi that he was questioning what he had just been asked.

"It's common courtesy with us Shinigami to give each other our names. That way we can know the person who we are going to kill, or be killed by." Zaraki told the other man, his breath getting heavier from the exhilaration of the fight.

**"My name.." **The blooded warrior spoke, his deep voice distorting as it passed through his Bio-Mask's vocal system. Kenpachi's hairless brow raised again at the admittedly very frightening sounding voice his adversary spoke with. It would probably give nightmares to the fresher, or weaker-willed Shinigami, if they ever heard it.

**"Before I came.. to hunt,.. the woman.. who birthed me named me.. Ichigo.."** He answered, referring to his original mother. Ichigo heard an loud gasp a good distance behind him, but elected to ignore it. **"But.. new mother.. calls me.. Dead Eye.."** He finished speaking, and waited for the man with spiked up hair to respond.

Kenpachi was almost about to question 'Ichigo' about the fact that he apparently had two mothers. However chose to ignore it. What business did he have getting involve it the personal life of another fighter. Besides, they were in the middle of a fight right now. And even though he had several other questions to ask, he would save them for later. Maybe for after the fight, if either of them survived it..

"Well then, Dead Eye Ichigo, I'm Zaraki Kenpachi, Taichō of the Eleventh Division, and the stron- Huh?" Zaraki was cut off when a bright, glowing orb of blue fire was launched directly at his chest. Reacting fast, Kenpachi swung his sword to block and disperse the shot of superheated energy. But when he suddenly felt the intense temperatures radiating from it, once his sword came in contact, he quickly chose to just divert its trajectory instead. Launching the explosive shot into a nearby wall, where it detonated, spreading flames and shooting sparks out all over the wall and floor behind him.

Looking down at his Zanpakutō, he could see the trails of smoke snaking off the edge that had come into contact with the pale fireball, he could also feel how whatever had been shot at him had heated his blade a significant amount, not enough to impede its structural integrity, just enough that you would find great discomfort touching it.

Looking back to Ichigo, the Eleventh Taichō was surprise to see him not a distance away, but rather, right in front of him, the orange-haired man's left arm drawn across his chest in preparation for a backhanded strike that would surely eviscerate the current Kenpachi.

Angling his blade downwards to meet Ichigo strike equally, their weapons struck, sparking slightly, and Zaraki looked down at his crouching opponent, and was met by the maliciously grinning visage of teeth carved into the face of the other's steel mask. The eye patch wearing Captain returned his smile to meet Ichigo's and they started their fight anew.

Their interlocked blades broke apart, and immediately after said action Ichigo thrust his right arm upwards, intending to impale Zaraki Kenpachi's head on his Wrist-Blades, using the crouching position he was in, he increased the power and speed of the strike immensely by pushing off with his legs.

Reacting, Zaraki moved his head and used him free arm to ensure the path of the razor-edged blades would not change to follow him. He was successful, partially, one of the blades ripped a line through his left arm and sliced a small cut along his jaw.

Gripping the overextended arm Zaraki twisted his upper body, and using Ichigo's momentum against him, he threw the strawberry-blonde over shoulder. At the same time the Captain slashed his blade in a disembowelling motion, similar to what had just been attempted on him.

Much to his pleasure the attack found resistance as he carved against the extremely well trained muscles of Ichigo's abdomen. The faint, maroon-coloured, inky-looking veins crawling around the wound he had just inflicted caught Kenpachi's eye, till it faded away, leaving only a long, thin, and quickly closing wound.

'So, this guy's got some kind of healing ability? Hahaha! That means that I can have even more fun with him!' Zaraki cheered in his head as he re-initiated the fight with a diagonal strike onto Ichigo's shoulder, which was deftly blocked with his twin Wrist-Blades.

Quickly ducking under Kenpachi's guard again, Ichigo dropped his weight forward then launched himself, armoured shoulder first, straight into the slightly taller man's chest.

The heavy impact was made evident by sound of a rib cracking coming from inside the chest of the receiver of the attack. Recoiling back slightly from the violent shoulder barge, Zaraki couldn't react when Dead Eye quickly swiped at his chest with the back edge of his retractable weapons while he got his balance back to normal.

As the crimson liquid splattered across the ground, Kenpachi wasted no time in returning the favour back in full.

Quickly striking downwards, Zaraki went for a diagonal strike again, this time on the shoulder that was left wide open from the attack that the arm connected to it had just executed. Surprisingly the plated armour, that covered the shoulder and part of his chest, managed to absorb a great deal of the power that lay behind the stroke of his blade. The metal itself now had a deep grove in it, having taken the brunt of the blow, but Ichigo was not left unscathed, as he now sported a long gash stretching from his upper left shoulder, down to his navel.

Kenpachi noticed how Ichigo made no sound as the wound was inflicted upon his body, nor did he flinch away at the sudden burst of pain that was surely pulsating throughout his nervous system. He also saw those dark-red, almost black, veins appear on his skin around the wound again.

When they stepped away from each other again, the Haori-wearing Shinigami's eyes spotted the blood leaking out of the wound he had just inflicted. It looked so unnaturally bright.

Zaraki had seen it earlier coming from the wounds on Ichigo's forearms but passed it off as something that the setting sun was doing. But now that the solar orb had receded and the night enveloped them, he could tell that it was not actually something caused by the environment. His blood was in fact glowing, albeit not very brightly, but enough so that it gave the crimson liquid a gruesomely beautiful luminescent gleam.

Watching the dripping trails of blood cease flowing, leaving a small puddle at Ichigo's feet, Kenpachi's grin substantially widened when Ichigo dropped back into his battle-ready crouch, his blades wiped free of the gore it had collected, and his muscles relaxed, but ready to be used at a moment's notice.

"Ichi-nii!" The Eleventh Division Taichō stopped moving when he heard a voice called out somebody's name.

Looking over the shoulder of his steel-clad assailant, Kenpachi noticed a black-haired girl running towards them wearing the Shinigami's Shihakushō. And trailing behind her was a taller man and another woman about the same height as the first.

"Ehh? Ichi-nii? Who are you talking about? And why are you interrupting our fight!?" Zaraki yelled, gripping the handle of his Zanpakutō tight enough to pop a couple of knuckles.

"Ken-chan! That's the girl we were trying to find!" A high-pitched voice shouted from on top of a nearby roof. "And I think Ichi-nii is actually Ichi-Eye, the person you're fighting!" She guessed, calling out loudly so that she would be heard clearly.

"Ohhhh.." The revelation of finding this out, turned his grin from being excited, to ecstatically blood thirsty. "So, you're the Ryoka girl, huh? And you say that my good friend here is your Onii-san?!" A sudden pressure hit Karin like a truck to the face. "HAHAHAHA! That's just perfect!" Kenpachi exploded in a roaring fit of laughter, unable to contain his elatedness anymore.

"To find out that Dead Eye's younger sister was the one who had beaten my Third Seat! I can't believe it! I'm going to have so much fun fighting the both of you!" He proclaimed, screaming his joy to the world around him as he suddenly ripped off the patch covering his eye, releasing the torrent of power being restrained by the suppressor coving his right eye.

"WHAT!?" Karin shouted in disbelief as Reiatsu exploded from every inch of Kenpachi's form, driving Tatsuki and Ganju straight onto their knee's, while she herself strained to remain standing.

"Yaaaaayy, Ken-chan!" Yachiru cheered from the sidelines, obviously happy that Kenny was this happy.

"Come on, Ichigo! I can tell that you are hiding your power, and you are concealing your Reiatsu! I don't know how, but I know you are!" He yelled at the unmoving statuesque form of the hunter before him. "STOP HOLDING BACK, DEAD EYE! I WANT TO FEEL THE POWER OF MY FOE! RELEASE IT, NOW!"

Silence reign upon them all when they watched Ichigo touch something on the small electronic device attached to his wrist and then spoke.

**".. So be it.."**

* * *

_**And So it begins, amirite?**_

_**Sorry if that took a little took long. I wanted to take my time with this chapter.**_

_**I would love to hear your thoughts on how you think my writing of this fight is going so far, so that I may be able to improve on it (This will be my first full on fight scene that I'll have ever written and would like your help improving it and future ones)**_

_**Also I have planned to extend this entire thing over about 3 more chapters****(each with there own big events happening in them) and then bringing it to a calm where I may be able to write something other than Gore and Violence.**_

_**REVIEWS:**_

_**Zaralann: **Hahaha, I have always loved the idea of Ichigo/Unohana pairing. But people have barely even touched it. So I'm glad you appreciate me doing IchUno. Thanks for the Review as always._

**_Kaka-she Gladiator: _**_Of course I would include this fight in my story haha! Right from the get go I had been planning their meeting and even several event in the fight itself xD Also, expect more of Mother Masa soon. Thanks!_

**_tctilly:_**_ The whole story (the non-predator Ichigo parts) is basically Canon but with Karin instead of Ichigo. But since it is four years after Original Canon, people will be stronger but not very noticeably since nothing has happened for them to grow (No Bount, Znpkt Rebellion, Quincy stuff has happened yet) _

**_hornet07: _**_I knew this might raise a few questions. (should've made it clearer) But no. The technology is only superior in regards to hiding and concealing his Reiatsu. The only way it helps him harness it is by pumping it straight into his body making his human body physically stronger. If he were to harness his power naturally he would most definitely be A LOT stronger than his is now. That is why I classed this as "Strong Ichigo" not "Godlike" because that would be too __far-fetched. Hope that clears up any confusion. Thanks for the input :D_

**_Thorndsword: _**_As I said, "Simply put", there are other reasons other than "too Violent", that was just the "Simplest" way to put it. Yes, control is important, I know that, but Ichigo has NONE. He didn't hasn't learn to control his power from the Yautja. They just found a way to hide it._

**_Arai Kaji: _**_Glad you're enjoying my story so much :D And thanks for the input. I had toyed with the idea of having Harribel find interest in Ichigo. But I don't think I will be having any more OC in this story. appreciate the suggestions nonetheless though._

_**Lucas Bane: **I will definitely not be having the fight just end like the canon fight. I was honestly a bit disappointed by that fight. But I'm glad I could offer some form of reprieve for you. And I know almost everyone was not expecting me to go that way with Unohana, hahaha! Thanks for the Review :D  
_

**_Many thanks to all_**

**_- Gorgantuan_**


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